World War Three
by Skyress1
Summary: What happens when Hans tries to take over the world, do the commando penguins win or do they die in an attempt to destroy this evil creature that's almost like hitler but more of a genius? This story is partially humanized, but might end up not being fully humanized, please read and review!
1. Song Before Battle

**Never-Ending Battles, Never Ending Love**

**Song Before Battle**

The battle was on. Rows and rows of soldiers, everyone who managed to get past millitary training was there. Manfredi and Johnson, Kowalski, Rico and Private. All the soldier fought for one. World freedom. Skipper looked up to the stage. Even as a skilled commander, his hands were trembling, he was trembling. Fear etched his face. "I guess this is it, Skipper," Manfredi murmered," we are going to a battle, where many will die, so many precious lives, so many innocent people, animals, plants." He sighed and shook his head. Skipper looked at him nodding his head. "Soldiers, before you all leave for battle I present a group of singers that will give you courage!" General Kent said as the crowds faced the general. A group of singers came up to the stage. Skippers eyes locked on one of them. A brunett stepped on the stage. Her eyes were full of sadness yet she was proud of these soldiers. They fought for Africa today and soon they'll free all the countries. She gave a sad smile and started singing,

"_You're a good soldier_

_Choosing your battles_

_Pick yourself up and dust yourself off_

_And back in the saddle_

_You're on the front line_

_Everyone's watching_

_You know it's serious, we're getting closer_

_This isn't over_

_The pressure's on_

_You feel it_

_But you've got it all_

_Believe it_

_When you fall, get up, oh oh_

_And if you fall, get up, eh eh_

_Tsamina mina zangalewa_

_'Cause this is Africa_

_Tsamina mina eh eh_

_Waka Waka eh eh_

_Tsamina mina zangalewa_

_This time for Africa_

_Listen to your god_

_This is our motto_

_Your time to shine, don't wait in line_

_Y vamos por todo_

_People are raising_

_Their expectations_

_Go on and feed them, this is your moment_

_No hesitation_

_Today's your day_

_I feel it_

_You paved the way_

_Believe it_

_If you get down, get up, oh oh_

_When you get down, get up, eh eh_

_Tsamina mina zangalewa_

_This time for Africa_

_Tsamina mina e e_

_Waka Waka eh eh_

_Tsamina mina zangalewa_

_Anawa a a_

_Tsamina mina eh eh_

_Waka Waka eh eh_

_Tsamina mina zangalewa_

_This time for Africa_

_Awela majoni biggie biggie mama, one a to zet_

_Athi susa lamajoni biggie biggie mama from east to west_

_Bathi waka waka ma EH EH!_

_Waka waka ma EH EH!_

_Zonk' izizwe mazibuye..._

_Cause this is Africa!_

_Tsamina, anawa a a_

_Tsamina mina_

_Tsamina mina, anawa a a_

_Tsamina mina, eh eh_

_Waka waka, eh eh_

_Tsamina mina zangalewa_

_Anawa a a_

_Tsamina mina, eh eh_

_Waka waka, eh eh_

_Tsamina mina zangalewa_

_This time for Africa_

_Django eh eh_

_Django eh eh_

_Tsamina mina zangalewa_

_Anawa a a_

_Django eh eh_

_Django eh eh_

_Tsamina mina zangalewa_

_Anawa a a_

_This time for Africa_

_This time for Africa_

_We're all Africa_

_We're all Africa" _ she sang with a voice so soft yet full of energy, making Skipper filled with trust. "Good luck and may you win this for the country, for the whole world, make us proud!" she said, making the crowds cheer, row after row began clapping. _I'm gonna fight, for the world and for you, _Skipper thought, looking at the beautiful brunnett. Another singer came up on stage and another song started, but Skipper didn't listen to his heart, he was to busy focusing on his hopes.

Private looked at his leader, pain in his eyes, "Skipper?" Private asked looking up to him.

"What is it?" Skipper replied softly.

"Are you scared?" Private asked sadly.

"Yes, just like everyone, but we have no choice, Hans wants a battle, so let him bring it on!" SKipper shouted surprising the other soldiers. He gulped. THis wasn't going to be easy. The enemy already occupied most of Europe and unlike in World War 2, the enemy occupied America too, everyone was fleeing, everyone was panicking, why wouldn't they though? Battle was to start in an hour, battle would end up killing off nearly all of them. But he was determind to save the world, to win, to survive. He won't die, but if he does die. Will he ever see that beautiful brunnett? Will Private survive? Will Kowalski, Rico, Manfredi and Johnson survive? Or will he rue that he ever decided to fight Hans?

**It's a start I know, and I hope it's good enough. It will be slighlty based on WW2, just to show you all that I did atleast partially concentrate in history! I bet you wish these soldiers good luck and sorry but I kind of had to humanize this story. **


	2. First Tank, First Letter

**First Tank, First Letter**

Marlene stood on the stage looking at the rest of the soldiers that stood there. She felt afraid, she felt confused. All the soldiers seemed scared, yet she admired that the decided to battle. She wished she could battle, but Sarah denied her this, saying that she won't risk her daughters' life. She tried to remember teh recent events, but only one was in her head. One soldier, above all, a memory she wated to conceal, to hold onto. HIs courage was admired by every soldier, but she admired him most of all. He was hansome, brave and took care of his soldiers, many had heard of his missions, his battles, but even he had a chance to die, and Marlene feared that this might be his last battle. His ice blue eyes, his cocky smile, his jet black hair, an unforgetable sight. Of all the soldiers, she wished that he would be one of the survivors, like if her song was dedicated to him.

Skipper was marching down the sandy plains of North Africa looking at the setting sun. It was like a simbol of hope, every sunset marked 1 day of survival. He wished that there were no battles, even for an action loving person, he hated the thought of a world war three, staring Hans. Oh, how he despised Hans, he hated him to the bone, like poisoned sardines, Hans was deadly, he was a weapon of destruction, he was Hades. Compared to him, Rico was a little, innocent lamb. He chuckled to himself. Rico growled, making Skipper think that Rico had read his mind. The young adult looked at him, but as he did, Skipper realised why.

A tank was coming up to them. "Fire the flamethrowers, men, if he likes playing with fire, hit him with fire!" Skipper commanded. The soldiers fired, but after two minutes, the soldiers looked at Skipper in confusion. "Skipper the tanks defences are inpenitreble!" Kowalski complained. Skipper looked at the tall soldier, his eyes filled with rage. "Well if he wants an unfair game then he'll get one!" Skipper screamed and RIco sudenly realise his leaders order. His psychotic side revealed. He ran to the tank and like a weopon he was direct and fast. He hit the tank and started chucking bombs at it. "Rico soldier, get back!" Skipper ordered. The breathless soldier did as told. The tank exploded, but as they looked for a dead soldier they saw nothing...

..."What?! I can'T, wait... how come!" Skipper screamed. "Kowalski analysis!"

"It appears that this was computer-controlled," the options guy looked at him and so did Private. Privates' face was etched with fear. "How can we defeat a robotic army?" he asked trembling. Skipper looked at him, with courage. "Let's do what me, Manfredi and Johnson did in tokyo!" Skipper announced, three soldiers loked at him in confusionm, but Manfrediu and Johnson knew what happened in Tokyo. They gathered into a huddle and whispered the plan. Kowalski let out an 'oh' and then nodded. Rico shrugged and Private knew that there was no other choice so he went with the plan. He thought about something and then asked. "Skipper, sometime I would like to give you a question," Private said.

"Well, you may, but not now," Skipper replied and started marchinmg to catch up with the living soldiers. His team quickly followed. Being left behind was not a nice option and fighting alone was dangerous.

Skipper saw a perigrene falcon swoop down. It landed on his shoulder. A peice of paper was fastened to it's leg. "Oh. so your a messenger," Skipper said chuckling, the falcon nodded, which surprised Skipper. "You understand?" The falcon nodded, with what seemed like a sad smile. Skipper read the message. _Skipper, you don't know me but I know you. I wanted to ask you of a favour, sorry if this message is delayed, but Kitka hasn't ever travelled this far, yours sencerely, someone anonymus, yet not completely unknown._ The letter also contained a date that suggested it arrived passed the date, but Skipper didn't mind. He laughed. "Who ever you are you can join," he muttered to himself as he stopped to write an answer. Private smiled. "Does that mean we get another ally sir?" he asked hopeful.

"Yes Private, that's exactly what will happen and I'll make it happen," Skipper replied smiled at Private like a father would at his son. _Whatever happen I must not let Private down, I musn't break him, I must protect him! _Skipper thought ,_even if it kills me. _He hoped that he won't have to die but this was war. Was there even a possibility that none of his team would die? Skipper felt like crying, but he must stay strong.

The falcon flew off, giving one last look to the couargeous team. _I sure do hope they will live on... there is something about them, _Kitka thought whilst flapping her wings. She was tired, but loyalty was pushing her on, she was loyal, she was falcon and falcons are meant to be loyal. She flew past the desert plains, looking down at desert elephants, orixes and gazelle. She flew past angry loins and proud caracles, past tiny waterholes and burning land. She finally descended to a stoop, rushing down to meet her owner, the one she gave her loyalty to ever since her owner found her abandoned as a chick.

Marlene looked out from her balconey. Her mother was in battle, her father dead. Another sunset meant more hope. She looked at the sunset. It was always beautiful. As she was brushing her brown hair, her chestnut eyes saw a falcon in the sky. "Kitka!" she joyfully said, "you made it, good girl." The falcon perched on her shoulder, revealing a letter. "yes, thank you so much, for that, you will get an extra portion of meat!" Marlene congratulated, celebrating with a littlle dance. _Yum! _ Kitka thought smilling. "Let's look what is on the paper," Marlene said, excited.

_Dear miss/mr anonymus, _

_it would be an honour if you joined us, but are you sure, you want to risk your life? If yes please reply and your falcon must be very loyal, Kowalski said that falcons are very intelligent, but that's for a different time, please answer soon, _

_yours' truly, Skipper Sorenson._

_P.S . You might want to come armoured, your falcon will lead you._

Marlene quickly wrote an asnwer, yes she will join, whatever it takes, she'll do it, even if she had to die she'll help! No stopping her now.

**Hope you liked the second chapter, I know it ain't that great or that long but trust me, it should turn out good in the end.**


	3. A New Team Member

**A New Team Member**

Skipper read the reply. He smiled. _Who ever you are, you've got guts!_ Skipper thought to himself. The sun was rising, announcing the fourth war day. The falcon had flown away a day ago, so the new soldier must be on the way. Kowalski calculated that it would take another two hours atleast, so Skipper went on recon. The thousands of soldiers that where assingned here, were still sleeping, except his own team, which loyaly sat next to Skipper. "Isn't the sunset beautiful?"Private asked smilling. Skipper nodded. African sunrise was among the most beautiful sunrises, which was odd, since the whole planet shared one and the same sun. "Yes, but don't you think it is ironic, we are at war and war is far from beautiful," Skipper replied, "then again, it's a sign, a sign that tells us that we amnaged to survivs this long, some died already, even before we started defending this beautiful continent."

"Almost poetically said, Skipper," Kowalski complimented, smilling sadly. He loved Africa, it was like the eastern version of America. Free and Beautiful. "Uhuh," Rico managed to say. Manfredi and Johnson just nodded and yawned.

Two hours later, they started marching even more north. Not a sign of the new soldier. "Skipper I see something moving," Kowalski suddenly said, interupting Skippers thoughts. Skipper looked through his binoculars. "You're right soldier, wait, what... it's a lady... no wrongly worded, it's the lady!" Skipper shouted. He ran off to the brunett in the distance. He stopped as he got to a meter from her. "What are you doing in a battlefield miss..." Skipper asked, but was cut off.

"Guess you don't appreciate help coming!" the lady retorted. Skippers' jaw dropped. His team ran up to him. As they saw who Skipper was talking to, they got surprised. "You're the singer that sang tha first song!" Kowalski said. "What is your name? Why did you decide to join? What-," he was cut off by Marlene.

"Please ask one question at a time, and we should move on," Marlene said smilling. Questions were nothing new. "Let's say that Kitka loyaly found you all, it certainly wasn't a coincidence." She chuckled. "My name is Marlene, daughter of Sarah and Joseph Kent," she answered Kowalskis' first questions calmly. "My mum made me stay, but as a rebel, I will follow my mothers' actions and I will protect the world! You can't stop me, Skipper Sorenson, son of Saphire Sorenson and leader of this team!"

"Woah, you can't just disobey your mother and join this team!" Skipper said. He didn't wan't Marlene to get hurt. Then again, it wouldn't do any good to send her away now. It was too late. "Atually, Skippah, you let her join this team," Private said. Skipper glared at him. "That was... precise!" Marlene agreed. She looked at him pleading. "Fine!" Skipper muttered annoyed," but if your mother tries to kill me , I'll ter her , this was your idea." Marlene just shrugged. "I don't care, she would know that that was mine anyway, you don't need to tell her a thing!" She gave him a cat smile and marched off with the other soldiers. Skipper and the rest just followed. "She hus guts!" Rico said, laughing. Kowalski looked at Skipper. "True that!"

Manfredi and Johnson spotted five other cumputer-controlled tanks and dashed to then. They quickly gathered as much explosives as possible an threw them as acurately as possible and the watched how the tanks exploded like firework. "Woohoo!" Rico cheered. "Mission Acomplished!" Suddenly a robot woke up from the pile of rubble that was left and styarted shooting at the humans. The boys saw one soldier fall instantly, never to stand up again. His scream woke them up from their cheers. Marlene quickly asked Rico for a minigun. The soldier just nodded and gave it to her. She aimed at the ugly robot and shot it into his cables. It exploded and it's headlike part fell right at Marlenes' feet. "Well maybe you can be part of this team afterall, we need an extra pair of hands and eyes," Skipper snnounced. The team high-fived eachother.

They continued to fight together as an army of fireproof tanks approached them. As a team they exterminated the computerized tanks like pests and like pests the tanks came coming. At the end of the day, dozens of soldiers lay on the floor, either dying of complete exhaustion or because the parts of tanks landed on them. Every surviver was happy they lived, every survivor was unhappy and happy at the same time. Most wrote letters which Kitka loyaly kept sending to the other people who were in hiding. Kitka got slowly accustomed and so did Marlene, yet less cheerful after victories. Victory meant more deaths, more injuries, but all soldier were filled with hope. There were days without food, there were days filled with pain, but Skippers team was filled with courage, hope and loyalty - they wouldn't give up. Even when Kitka broke her wing, she healed and stayed strong.

Both girls knew there was no going back, but that was not their wish. They would stay and fight Hans, they will defeat him, they will revive hopes in every person.

**I know it's not any longer, but if I made it longer, perhaps it wouldn't make sense, perhaps it would bore you to death. Long LIVE COURAGE REST IN PEACE fallen heroes, fallen soldiers, those who fought for our freedom, for our safety, for hope and for happiness!**


	4. Song in the Night

Marlene sang to herself, in the cold desert night not knowing that Skipper was listening.

"Do you ever feel

Like a plastic bag

Drifting through the wind

Wanting to start again

Do you ever feel

Feel so paper-thin

Like a house of cards

One blow from caving in

Do you ever feel

Already buried deep

Six feet under

Screams but no one seems to hear a thing

Do you know that there's

Still a chance for you

'Cause there's a spark in you

You just gotta

Ignite the light

And let it shine

Just own the night

Like the Fourth of July

'Cause baby, you're a firework

Come on show them what you're worth

Make them go, "Oh, oh, oh"

As you shoot across the sky

Baby, you're a firework

Come on let your colors burst

Make them go, "Oh, oh, oh"

You're gonna leave them all in awe

You don't have to feel

Like a waste of space

You're original

Cannot be replaced

If you only knew

What the future holds

After a hurricane

Comes a rainbow

Maybe the reason why

All the doors are closed

So you could open one

That leads you to the perfect road

Like a lightning bolt

Your heart will glow

And when it's time you know

You just gotta

Ignite the light

And let it shine

Just own the night

Like the Fourth of July

'Cause baby, you're a firework

Come on show them what you're worth

Make them go, "Oh, oh, oh"

As you shoot across the sky

Baby, you're a firework

Come on let your colors burst

Make them go, "Oh, oh, oh"

You're gonna leave them all in awe

Boom, boom, boom

Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon

It's always been inside of you, you, you

And now it's time to let it through

'Cause baby, you're a firework

Come on show them what you're worth

Make them go, "Oh, oh, oh"

As you shoot across the sky

Baby, you're a firework

Come on let your colors burst

Make them go, "Oh, oh, oh"

You're gonna leave them all in awe

Boom, boom, boom

Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon

Boom, boom, boom

Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon" She finished softly. She turned around to see Skipper smilling at her. "nice singing," Skipper complimented still smilling. "You were listening the whole time?" Marlene asked smilling sheepishly. Skipper nodded. "Pretty much, but why would that bother you, you have a talent, ever since I first saw you I knew you had a talent, that's not anything bad," Skipper said looking into her big, brown eyes. Marlene blushed, her cheeks turned into rose red. "Thanks," she replied smilling softly. Skipper put one of his hands round marlene and they both knelt down. "Have you ever seen such a big moon?" Skipper asked her. She shook her head. "It looks beautiful!"

"Yeah, well I know a certain lady that looks even prettier!" Skipper said with a cocky smile. Marlene blushed. "Are you trying to flirt with me, or was that a simple compliment?" Marlene asked. Noone ever told her that, well dad and mum did said that she was their little princess, but that was about it and ever since her dad passed into the void, she hadn't heard much polite compliments. " A bit of both really," Skipper answered chuckling. HE thought she was beautiful. Like an angel, just a little more realistic. To him nothing and noone could look as beautiful as she was. He was worried though. He was worried that something might happen to her, that's why he didn't want her to join the battle and like Private, he would protect her even if it costed him his life. He admitted though that Marlene wasn't soft, she knew what wars' about. "You sure know how to please a girl," Marlene complimented blushing even harder.

"No, I don't, that's the truth, but promise me one thing," Skipper said," do not do anything that's way too risky, please!" Skipper pleaded.

"You know very well, that I can't just sit and watch one soldier after another die because of Hanses' arrogance! I will be careful though, if it makes you happier," Marlene replied. Skipper frowned for a while but then smilled. "I said to myself that I will keep you and my team alive and I keep to my words, usually!" Skipper bent to Marlene and softly kissed her on her cheek. "I think you should go to sleep, you need it," Skipper announced after a while, marlene refused to argue," goodnight." Marlene started to close her eyes. "Good night Skipper," she whispered.

"I see you got yourself a girlfriend, Skipper," Kowalski commented as he started waking up.

"No I... yes I do, You think it's a good idea to have a girlfriend?" Skipper asked. Kowalski nodded and chuckled. "I think it's important you have someone who loves you and you love her, especially in this war, noone should be alone, not now," Kowalski announced. "You do love her don't you? And she loves you, I guess."

"I...I do love her, but I don't know if she loves me," Skipper sighed. He frowned. _Does she love me? _he asked himself.

"I'm sure she loves you, I can feel it in my gut!" Kowalski said. Skipper smiled. Atleast he wasn't alone. The two boys sat there on recon, watching the night sky and the desert sands. Even Kitka was sleeping and she didn't sleep very often. "You think that Hans has gone mad?" Skipper asked the lieutenant. Kowalski chuckled. "I sure do, I mean, when wasn't he mad, don't answer this, don't even try, we all know the answer."

"So I guess that he was always mad!" Skipper said smilling.

"Yup!" A voice suddenly agreed. They turned around to see Rico coming to them. "Rico, you're awake?" Kowalski asked. Rico nodded, smilling. "Promise me one thing Rico," Skipper said, " NO eavsedropping!"

"I listened whole time!" Rico replied laughing. Skipper glared at the weopons guy. "You what?! You mean even to-" Skipper asked but before he could finish, he saw Rico nod. The leader glared at him, even more angry. "Don't worry Skippah, we knew all this already!" Private said smilling. Kowalski tried to cover hi mouth, but he was too late. "Thanks Private," he said sarcastically. Private just smiled. "You're welcome!"Private said naively. "Oh... that was sarcasm," Private said, embaressed. He tried to escape, but Kowalski took hold of him. "Oh no you don't, thanks to you Skipper's angry at all of us!" Kowalski glared at Private and Skipper glared at Kowalski. Rico just whistled and tried to sneak out, but Skipper caught him. "We're gonna have to talk about eavsedropping," Skipper announced as Manfredi and Johnson came. "Oh oh, he know that we listened, evasive manouvers," Johnson said, but he was too late.

"You guys really need to learn manners!" Skipper announced, "starting tommorow!"

"Aww, but we waited so long for this, it's like a movie, now it's more like a ruiend movie," Private complained.

**Hope you found this chapter interesting, please review and there might be more cute and action filled parts in the next chapter!**


	5. The One Called Lea

**THe One Called Lea**

The girl didn't improve even after ten days. However Kitka managed to get a message form Marlenes' mother. This didn't exactly please Marlene since her mother now knew about everything. She kept on complaining, but Marlene ignored her motrhers' complaints and continued to fight alongside Skipper and his team. Unfortunately, they had no explosives left and so they had to use swords instead. It made fighting the robotic jerks much harder and result as death of many soldiers. Even the best swordsmen had not managed to be victorious on his own, without him dieing at some point afterwards. "You know Skipper, your team really is the elitest of the elite, their still alive!" Marlene tried to joke. Skipper laughed for a bit and the returned to his somber mood. "You know Marlene, if that's how people rate teams then we might not be as elite."

Marlene decided to talk to the young girl. She was riding on Ricos' back. He seemed to be the only person she trusted , which was, odd. It couldn't be descrbed otherwise, since most kids would immediately go for Private, Marlene, but not Rico. He was a warrior, not a parent. Yet it seemed that he cared for this child. She looked sad and cute, like any old toddler, yet Rico was way kinder to her than to any other toddler before. He even let her hold his favourite weapon, a chainsaw. Unfortunately it was too heavy for the toddler, so it fell, but the two just chuckled, well the girl, just sadly smiled but better than nothing. "What your name?" Rico asked the tenth day as the two walked along the beaches of Northern Africa. There was meant to be an unwrecked town, so they were headed there. "Lea," the girl whispered.

"Nice name," Rico said with a smile. Lea smiled back. Definately an improvement. Marlene looked at the two. They were watching dolphins jumping out from the sea. They seemed to have forgotten about death now and Lea was smilling, this made Marlene so happy. "Hey Marlene, what you doing?" Skipper said hugging Marlene. Marlene smiled. "Looking at the one called Lea," she chuckled and said," fine then I'll see you in five minutes, we got to move on then."

"Okay," Marlen said sighing," it's just that I hate the thought of a kid participating a battle." Skipper nodded. "Welcome to myworld of worries," he said, smilling slightly," I worry about all of you and it gave me a sleepless night, once or twice. I know that a child shouldn't be raised in an army, but if it wasn't with us, it still would make the childs' life risky. You can't hide Lea, she'll be at risk anywhere, maybe this is the safest place for her. Especially when Rico is with her." Marlene looked at him with a smile. "I guess your right and then, Rico and Lea are insepereble!" She looked at the seaside where the two ran about, smiles etched their faces for the first time in days.

The army moved along the coast of North Africa where a town did survive. If you compared it to the pile of rubble from before, it would seem almost heavenly, but it was just a town. For Lea it was a new experience, lots of people greeted her, making her smile slightly, but whenever night came along, Lea started behaving odly. She would stay awake, she wouldn't sleep at all. She would stare into the distance and keep staring untill daylight finally came. Fear would be in her eyes and she would refuse to fall asleep, always saying that she saw something. It was like if you went to bed after a rather scary horror and you couldn't fall asleep. However Lea didn't only feel scared of a horror, she was in a horror and when that happens everythinh changes. You would think that a toddler would fall asleep sooner or later, but Lea would keep staying awake and aware.

This behaviour continued for all the three days the soldiers where patrolling the city. They soon assumed it was time to move on, but Lea didn't. She would say to them," please don't go yet, I know they will come!" The soldiers would huddle together and then seperate. "Who will come?" the would ask, but they would only recieve, " They will come." The soldiers would say fine one more night, but after three nights they completely ignored this.

Suddenly, on the third night something creeped out of the shadows. The soldiers froze on the spot. "I told you all that they will come," Lea told them crossing her toddler hands. She turned around as well, but unlike the soldiers she wasn't afraid. "Lea why are you not scared?" Marlene asked nervously as she saw those monsters. She gulped. Even Rico gulped, but Lea didn't. The monsters had scorpion tails, snake head, dog body and wings of a bat. "Because, I am not meant to be scared, my father told me to be brave, so I won't be scared, even if I die," the young girl retorted smiling odly. "The snkes helped me, I am not afraid, I feel near to nothing really, I would have, but," she added as clearly as an adult would have said it. Marlene shivered, she'd seen alot but this proved to much. She fainted on the spot, but Skipper managed to catch her, before she fell.

"Lea? How did you know about those?" Skipper asked the toddler, pointing to the fierce beasts that were slowly nearing them. Lea shrugged. "Thanks, that helps," Skipper said in a well sarcastic tone. The two beasts were now almost touching them. "Skipper I suggest we run as fast as possible!" Kowalski squeaked.

"Not here and not now, men we are gonna fight these ugly mutants and we are not gonna give in!" Skipper commanded. Every soldier listened. The soldiers picked up everything they found and started fighting the beasts. Yet one after the other, the soldiers were decapetated, heads off in one blow. Skipper felt the power of one of the monster as he got hit with a gigantic paw. He crashed againg a crashed building, fell down and then all went dark. Suddenly something changed the battle.

Leas' voice echoed through the night passing on a song," The snow glows white on the mountain tonight,

not a footprint to be seen.

A kingdom of isolation and it looks like I'm the queen.

The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside.

Couldn't keep it in, Heaven knows I tried.

Don't let them in, don't let them see.

Be the good girl you always have to be.

Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know.

Well, now they know!

Let it go, let it go!

Can't hold it back any more.

Let it go, let it go!

Turn away and slam the door.

I don't care what they're going to say.

Let the storm rage on.

The cold never bothered me anyway.

It's funny how some distance,

makes everything seem small.

And the fears that once controlled me, can't get to me at all

It's time to see what I can do,

to test the limits and break through.

No right, no wrong, no rules for me.

I'm free!

Let it go, let it go.

I am one with the wind and sky.

Let it go, let it go.

You'll never see me cry.

Here I'll stand, and here I'll stay.

Let the storm rage on.

My power flurries through the air into the ground.

My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around

And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast

I'm never going back; the past is in the past!

Let it go, let it go.

And I'll rise like the break of dawn.

Let it go, let it go

That perfect girl is gone

Here I stand, in the light of day.

Let the storm rage on!

The cold never bothered me anyway..." She ended the song softly. The mosters changed their minds, they stepped closer to the girl and stood there growling at her. "Let it GO!" she cried for one last time and then the building she was on and the Monsters exploded. Ricos' cry woke Skipper up," Why? Why!" he cried. Skipper woke up to ask," What in the duece happened?!"

**Well... dun dun daaan! I hope that you like this chapter, but it might sound slightly sad.**


	6. Enemies eyes

**Enemies' Eyes**

Rico was on the ground crying... wait, what? Crying? "What is it soldier?" Skipper asked as he slowly woke up. His head ached, yet he was so greatful that Marlene still lived and so did Private. Manfredi and Johnson stood there in shock. "So she was telling as the truth the whole time..." Manfredi muttered looking at the rubble infront of them. The pile of rubble was the only thing left of the massive skyscraper that used to be there. Kowalski stared at the rubble as well, not managing to utter a single word, for once. "Why?! WHY!" Rico cried over the rubble. Lea obviously wasn't there. "Wh...where is Lea?" Marlene asked in shock as she slowly returned to her senses. Everything that was standing next to the skyscraper was gone, including Lea and the beasts that prowled the city last night. Rico looked at Marlene with a look that pained her heart, the saddest possible look that Rico ever made. Even Skippers heart ached from that, everyone now realised what had happened. Lea let all her lives' energy go to destroy those otherwise unbeatable monsters, she had sacrificed herself. "K...Kowalski... an...alysis,"Skipper whispered, not managing any louder noise. Kowalski shook his head. "No...Skipper... you already know," Kowalski stuttered.

"But... but that can't... I... that," Skipper complained, but it was no use. She was no longer among them as a living creature. Or was she?

Kitka stooped down from one of the trees. They had all been marching since that tragic morning, all were tired, yet none stopped to rest. Not after what happened the night before. She drooped her head. _Why did this happen? Why? _Kitka asked herself. Marlene looked at her, knowing exactly what Kitka was thinking about. "I know, I can't believe it either," she whispered. They were now near the edge of Egypt, but that didn't make them any happier. It only meant more battles, what else? A couple of palms grew on land, providing as much shade as they could, in order to preserve enough life and protect it from the scortching heat. Kitka hated the heat that made her slow down and added wait to her wings. However she still somehow managed to send a few messages. The soldiers were thirsty, tired and hungry and they found it difficult to fight in the summers' heat. What scared them most right now was the amount of vultures in the sky. They were scared of death, of falling down, never to stand up again. Only Skipper and Marlene kept their heads cool and managed to conceal their fears.

Rico found a caracal cub playing in the desert, whilst its mother was on hunt. It only made hi wail in pain. It reminded hi of Lea, his little friend, his brave little friend, with whom he had so much fun, shared so many smiles. He gave the cub one last look and the marched of again. Meanwhile the cub looked at the strange humans in the distance. _Maybe I could have someone to playfight, _it thought smilling mischieviously. It sneaked up to the soldier that looked the oddest and saddest and pulled at his legs. "Huh?" Rico said looking down at the cub. He smiled and said. "No, no... I need to go." The cub just shook his head. It rolled over on its' back and purred. "Aww... isn't the cub adorable?" Marlene asked Skippe as she looked at the two. Skipper smiled and nodded. "But we should seriously start moving soldier!" Skipper commanded. Rico nodded. "I know, cub won't let go," Rico complained. He tried to get the cub off, but it just stuck to him. The cubs mother came to Rico and growled. "That is cubs' fault!" Rico said. The caracal mother nodded as if to agree. She picked up the cub by the excess skin on its' neck and casually walked off. "See you got yourself a friend for life," Skipper commented as they started marching.

Manfredi and Johnson walked through the desert complaining. "Come on why weren't we sent to Britain instead, it's less hot there!" Manfredi said with a grudge. Johnson gave Manfredi a stern look. "If we tried to get to Britain we would be dead meat and we would be useless!"

"Not completely, atleast the crows and seagulls will find a use of our flesh," Manfredi tried to joke, but Johnson just turned around. "I was only trying to make the march a little more interesting." Manfredi complained.

"How by giving us death options?!" Johnson shouted. Skipper glared at the two. "If you continue with this argument , you'll both be fed to the sharks and I'll personally throw you into the ocean!" The two shuddered at the thought. All was silent once again. Silently they continued, unaware that the desert was not as empty as it seemed.

Two pairs of eyes stared from underneath a sand dune. using a rusty old periscope. _Soon my work here will be done! _The creature that was spying on the soldiers thought. It wasn't a creature, it was a human and an odd one too. His spike red hair was rather unusuall colour of hair for someone living in the desert. He was aware of every movement and he wasn't going to loose, he wouldn't allow that. Under the dune was a small Lait with four periscopes and a computer system. It also conatained a lab and pieces of robots. This person had only one instuction - destry the enemies a all costs!

_Elsewhere..._

A group of six highly-ranked people sat next to a round table. Sheets of valuable paper lay scattered on the table. A large television screen was on the wall. The screen swtched on. "General H, I have some information on the soldiers in sector 35," a red haired figure announced. A person sitting round the table turned round to the screen. He had a black suit. Ruby red eyes, an evil smile and black hair. "Have you destroyed the soldiers, agent Red?" The black haired figure asked. The Red head shook his head. "I destroyed the first lot but they had back up units!" Agent Red complained.

"Haven't you tried to attack them in the city?" General H asked. Agent Red nodded and then sighed. "I did create some great beasts, but it appears that one of the villagers survived," Red continued. "The girl, the small, that you thought was suspicious. Thankfully she died, but so did my creations, leaving 634 surviving soldiers, precisly." General H groaned in disgust. He wanted to destroy that girl ages ago, he knew she was nothing but trouble. "The good thing being that it left the soldiers gobsmacked, hehe!" Red added smirking. The general nodded witha weird cackle. "Tell the other spies, in all the areas that me new creation is finally completed, Skipper will be awestruck!" The general commanded cackling even more. Red shuddered and walked of from the screen.

"So men, how are the other areas?" General H turned round to the five other men at the table. The men looked at him. One started speaking. " Sector 19 is fully armed, ,soldiers are on retrear."

"My men managed to defeat the general in sector 14, gerneral!" Another one said proudly. The general nodded. "Great, oh how I love killing my enemies! Now that general Kent is out of the way, I can focus on Skipper!" The general replied rubbing his hands together.

_This is going to be easier than cut with a knife through butter! _H thought.

**I wonder who you think is general H, but I guess you know already! Now that you know that Lea probably won't be coming back you might be on the verge of tears, but this story being based on WW2, makes it a rather tragic story, but don't worry, you might get a nicer surprise soon enough! I hope you have enjoyed this chapter and please review.**


	7. A Seemingly Calm Town

**A Seemingly Calm Town**

It had been a calm week. Or rather, an unbelievebly calm week. Too calm for comfort. They had been going past cities, only ever fighting normal enemy soldiers. They were weak compared to the strong beasts and robots this group had encountered before. The people from towns, villages and cities were really kind and what was seemingly better was that they were all alive. But as always war is never peaceful. It never was, as a matter of fact.

It all happened in a town called Ar Raqqah a seemingly peaceful, unharmed town. People that lived there seemed to mind their own bussiness and noones elses'. If you didn't include the criminals that occasionally walked through this town, it seemed closer to a holiday destination than a battle ground and one of the millions of enemy bases. Then one night a lady came up to Private as he was doing recon. "My husband, I can't find him, he was at home and then as I got back from the market... he's gone!" the lady complained. Private tried to cam her down, but she just kept on worrying. Private just decided he would go and fine Kowalski. Maybe the smart one wouldbe able to find the missing person.

Kowalski did manage to find the missing person, but it didn't end as well as Private thought it would. He ran to the lady and between his panting he managed to say:" we have found your husband ma'am, but..." The lady knew exactly what he was going to say. She started crying heavily, her eyes filled with tears. "Why did this happen to my Ahmed, Why? He was such a kind and generous man, he never fought or argued, why did it have to be him?" The lady cried. Skipper managed to get over to the lady. "Don't worry, we'll make who ever killed your husband pay!" Skipper tried to reassure her. "Meanwhile prove yourself and your husband that you love him by staying strong." Skipper walked of chacking the place were they found the man dead, to see if there were any clues left there. Manfredi and Johnson had the job to patrol the area and seal the entrances, so that nobody can get in. "I wonder why would anyone secretly kill a man at war and then hide his body, I don't think it makes much sense," Johnson muttered. Manfredi looked at him with a quizzical look. "Does any murder make sense, do any murders have a good, sane reason for happening, I don't think so and for your own good you shouldn't think so either," Manfredi said.

Meanwhile Kowalski analysed every clue they found, coming up with a reasnable cunclusion, well maybe it wasn't completely reasnable. "It appears that the victom was killed at precisely 2:34pm. It was probably killed with something sharp, but it wasn't a dagger, the wound is too small for that. So the one who killed it was infact a human, probably male," Kowalski analysed. "Odd, look at this Skipper, there is a bit of something in the wound." Skipper turned around to see a sharp peice of metal in Kowalskis' hand. "Wait I know these weapons," Skipper said looking at the metal more closely," but that can't be these weapons are old and you don't find them just anywhere. They come form denmark."

"So it's a short-bladded back-dagger-sword, well explains much," Kowalski finished of. Skipper looked at him. "You know what that means?"

"Nope, what about that this person had his enemies?" Kowalski asked.

"No it's a sign that Hans was and maybe still is here. He killed this man personally!" Skipper replied. Kowalski shuddered. This person was more deadly than he thought Hans was. He looked at the sunset sky. "Well I guess this took us about four hours."

Marlene was asigned to make sure that the town people were aware of the danger that they found themselves in, whilst Rico and the cub which was now callled liliean made sure that the children stayed calm. It took a long time to calm down the children as a death of a young citizen was unexpected and scary, but soon the kids were more focused on the caracal, than the danger they were in, leaving them with happy smiles. Private who came to help them, devised locks for doors so that people in every house could lock themselves from the dangers that lurked the city. Kitka was on gaurd duty along with the rest of the soldiers.

_Elsewhere..._

General H was looking at his plans and at a huge map of the whole world, looking at all the places he had to yet conquer. "How are the plans coming on Agent B," the general asked a tall, handsome man that stood at a desk with millions of sheets of paper and the newest computer. The agent turned around looking into the generals eyes. "As I suspected, we may have a problem with tansporting all our best fighters into Ar Raqqah, since we cannot disguise them that well, but the scared civilians from already conquered towns might prvide some help, or else..." Agent B said smilling. THe general nodded. "Well done, I suppose that's a great plan, I like your style!"

"Well, for what did I join, just for the crack... I don't think so!" B said smilling even more.

As the general left B slammed the door. He started singing one of his songs. He was never a famous singer, but if he hadn't been an agent he could well be thought of as one.

"I love this aberration

An unforeseen complication

Cause for celebration

I think from where I stand

There is a strong demand

To play my role

To seize control

This calls for a new plan

In my most evil dreams

My parade of nasty schemes

Swimming fast to extremes

But I never thought this

An unexpected twist

It simply cannot miss

I have to take the stand

The fate is oh so so grand

To win the day

My powerplay

It's big and bold, my new plan

And cruel and cold, my new plan

This ultimate crowning supreme debut of my latest

Greatest

Solidest

Statest

Brand new plan" he sang it , with his tone filled with revenge, one day, he would rule note that Hans, and he would have revenge, for the past. For his past. He sighed an went down to work. For now he was just a simple agent, but soon he will rule, he the one who had a brain would take over. Then again if he had been a singer he wouldn't feel the need for revenge, so why did he pick being an agent?

**I know it's not any less depressing but atleast there is another song in this chapter. I think you all know who the people that were 'elsewher', were. Please review and I hope you have enjoyed this chapter.**


	8. One Cub to the Family

**One Cub to the Family**

The group had travelled a long way, managing to somehow get to Syria. It took about a week but atleast they passed villages with water wells. Most people were kind, but it was manily because they had no other choice. It was either Hans or Skippers team to come. Skippers team managed to get there a day earlier, but that made them feel no better as a telegram arrived for Marlene, who assumed the worst, straight away. Her fears were confirmed. It had been a tragic month so far, losing to people she was closely bonded to. Thankfully, they saw no dead animals on the way there, but Rico somehow always seemed to find that caracal, everywhere he looked. He became accustomed to the cub, which was never to far from its' unhappy ma. In the end even the caracal mother becam used to Rico and loved his occasional gift of meat that he would give to her. This raised Marlenes' spirit but not for long, as she always started crying as night came.

Skipper, whom hated to see the beautiful girl he fallen in love cry, would stay close to her even in fights and battles, never leaving her side, like a gaurdian angel, in human form. "Sorry if it annoys you that I am crying like a five year old," Marlene apologised as they stepped into Syria. Skipper put his arms around Marlene and hugged her tightly. "Don't apologise, I know how it feels to loose someone close, I know that you can't fight tears, it's useless to try," Skipper tried to reassure her. She smiled sadly, returning him the hug. How she loved Skipper! He was so caring. But noone could replace her mother and her motherly love.

Kitka saw what was happening and she spread the word of Marlenes' sadness to the rest of Skippers' team. They were shocked that the leader was dead and that Marlene lost her last family member. They went up to her, trying to cheer her up but realised that Skipper was the only one who could succeed... and so could the cub. On tha day of another attack, the little caracal female came up to her and snuggled into her legs. However soon Marlene realised why. The Caracal mother lay dead on the sand. Vultures cautiously swarmed round the dead carcass. Then something came out of nowhere killing of all the vultures, making them dropped down and once they fell, they just lay there motionlessly. The thing that killed the caracal was back. A laser tank drove up the streets of a syrian village. Death of those who dropped down was quick, efficient and painless. And it looked terrible. The tank was vibrant purple with yellow flames painted on to it. To Kowalski it would have seemed beautiful... if it wasn't right now chasing him aroung, trying to hit him.

Kowalski was faster than the tank. He sprinted as fast as he could running for his life, whenever he could he fired at the tank with a flamethrower, but surprisingly missing. A hundred soldiers tried to stop the tank too quickly, not planning their attack, only to fall to the ground motionless. "How is that even possible?!" Shouted one soldier as he aimed a bomb at the tank. The bomb did nothing. Kowalski ducked away from the tanks shots, dodging them as best as he could. He jumped onto the tank, but it was because of luck not that it was planned. "Great now I could cut of the cirrculatory system, so that this thing self destructs," he muttered to himself. He tried to get close enough, but suddenly something touched him and threw him off. Marlene watched as Kowalski ran. "Run!" He screamed as he sprinted away. Marlene didn't run. She felt like she knew what to do. Along with the cub and the falcon they neared the tank. The falcon destracted the tank, whilst Marlene and the cub jumped onto the tank. they finally spotted the wires. She saw soldiers shooting at the tank from a distance. She saw Kitka trying to get the tanks attention. She gulped. Now was the time! She tried to cut the wires but something threw her off. She planned this of course. The cub, which was still on the tank bit into the wires and the tank stopped. "Jump off!" Marlene shouted to the cub. The cub listened and quickly jumped off.

The tank exploded, symbolising victory. Kowalski ran up to her, along with Skipper. "Are you three fine?" Skipper asked panting. The cub and the falcon nodded. "I was never better!" Marlene replied , shocking Skipper. Kowlaski gasped. "How did you?!"

"That's classified, but I can tell you one thing," Marlene replied. "I take care of Kitka, so you, Private and Rico will take care of her." Marlene pointed to the caracal, which was suddenly playing with Private, like if nothing happened. The she looked at her mother and her head dropped. "Don't cry, I am sure that your mother hasn't fully died," Marlene said. The cub tilted it's head in confusion. "She lives on in your heart, little one," Marlene explained , petting the cub gently. "You know, today I lost my mother as well, it's just how it goes, but I now got you an a whole lot of people that care for me and my wellbeing so I feel better, and your best bud is gonna take care of you."

The cub miawed happily and scampered to Rico who was hlding his arms out. She jumped into his arms and started purring. _Well, I guess that human lady is right, I do have someone who cares for me! _the cub thought. "Family?" Rico said. The new family member nodded her small caracal head, _yes family._

**I know this was quite a short chapter, but I hope you like its' ending! Enjoy and read on.**

**To be continued...**


	9. Rico Gone Awall

**Chapter 9**

**Rico Gone Awall**

Rico was sitting whistling to himself a war tune. Not that he knew many tunes, but he did like whistling and songs, so he decided that knowing part of one song would do. For a maniac, or for someone who was considered a maniac, he was rather gentle and artistic, yet hi love for weapons and his scar made everyone exept his friends and family want to be atleast 100 meters away from him. This was very unfair and was the cause of his lacking in understand love and care. Nevertheless he still cried when times were sad and sometimes and odd girl or two would make him smile. He heard a sound. Liliean also heard the sound and started yowling frantically. "Hush," Rico whispered, he didn't want their covers blown. Someone was walking close by. He was closing in...

Rico jumped out at once grabbing the soldier by his arm. The soldier faced him and said," Well, well, who do we have here?" The cub yowled loudly. However it's yowles came too late. The enemy soldier, dressed in blood red, grabbed the cub. "No yah don't!" Rico shouted, kicking the soldier who was not paying attention to him. The soldier dropped to his knees and cried," Ouch, you'll pay for kicking me there! No wait let me rephrase it: you'll pay for kicking me!"

"Yes!" Rico cheered. The cub ran for help us the two soldier fought against each other. The sound was now distant as the cub spotted Marlene. "Mia-a-a-ow!" she cried and Marlene thought she saw tears in the cubs eyes. Her eyes widened in terror. Instantly she knew what happened to Rico as Kitka tried to help Liliean act the event out. Marlene ran to Skipper tearfully, panting on her way. "What is it Marlene?" Skipper asked looking at her face. He gulped. "S...Skipp...er...Rico got attacked...a...a...nd he might b...be hurt or caught or worse!" Marlene stammered in fear. Rico was a team mate, and she became used to him, friends with him. She dreaded the thought of any team member or friend getting attacked and possibly killed. She knew that there were going t be these things happening, but she didn't want this!

Skipper sprinted, following the cub to the original place of battle. A gas cloud hung in the air. Gas bombs! So that's what got Rico out! Surely enough, Rico wasn't anywhere to be seen. "Rico, my soldier where are you?" Skipper asked almost crying. Marlene shook her head , _I doubt he still is anywhere near this place._ Kowalski was sent out to analyse the prints left behind but in the desert sand, it wasn't simple. The clues left were quickly buried so that noone and nothing will find them ever again. "Why?!" Kowalski asked the rhetorical question. Private who had come last out of the team let out a sad sob. "I...hope...R...Rico is fine," Private said between sobs. Kitka drooped her head low and so did Liliean, who then started yowling. Rico was like the father she never had, since caracal males rarely feel love. She knew that her mother wouldn't have been at her side that long but atleast female caracals didn't fight their daughters when they saw them. Rico was like that and she loved him in a sort of daughter-father way.

The rest of that day there was no sign of Rico and every soldier started getting their hopes low. "Skipper, I know this is a terrible thing to have happened, but if you don't get over it, you won't be able to fight your enemies, plus Rico is sure to have survived, it would take a dinosaur to take that one out, it would!" Manfredi tried to reassure the captain, he was thinking about the first time he met his explode loving friend.

**Flashback**

_Skipper was planing to make a team. He was sixteen and had already passed his tests and his millitary training. He had met already two people who seemed fit for the job. Manfredi, a chubby yet skilled soldier, who seemed to be very loyal an honest. He counted Manfredi as part of his team already. Skipper thought he might include Manfredis' brother as well, since Johnson, was funny, loyal, good at fighting and had some good detective knowledge as well, although it might have been what he remembered from detective films. Skipper chuckled at the thought._

_It was four pm, time when millitary school closed. He was walking home from school. He had picked his secret ruite number 36 and was prepared to take a turn, when all of a sudden Manfredi heard a noise. "Skipper there must be a spy!" Manfredi informed Skipper, who just disappeared into the undergrowth of the passage. "Evasive manouvers boys," Skipper called out quitley and quickly as the three of them hid into a bush. Skipper focused on the 'spy'. The spy was whistling a war tune, or part of it, minding his own bussiness._

_Suddenly Skipper leaped onto the person who was walking. The person fell on the ground and then turnd round to see that someone had attacked him. "Whata heck?!" the boy shouted. Skipper glared at him. "Who do you work for? Why did you follow us... and why the heck did you not fight back?!" Skipper asked the taller boy he pinned down. The boy had a scar on his face and an unsettling grin. "Simple," the boy grunted. He took out a sword. "I didn't follow, I no spy!" He retorted. "But if yah think, then fight meh!" Skipper got up, let the boy get up too. "Fine!" _

_The boy passed him a sword and they started fencing, well not exactly fencing, but I don't taller boy seemed to be always tieing Skipper, no matter what. This surprised him, since he was the one who always won. He never drew. Suddenly, the boy used his sword and took out Skipper sword. The he closed up on Skipper. Skippers' heart raced. 'What if he kills me', he Skipper thought. 'What if he takes it too seriously?' The maniac looking penguin was pointing his sword at Skippers' chest, but then suddenly put the sword down. "Huh?!" Skipper said. He thought the boy would kill him. "Ricardo, mah nem," the boy muttered. He held out a hand. Skipper shook it carefully. "The names' Jake, but call me Skipper," Skipper introduced himself. He looked at Ricardo. "Hey wonna join my team, you know commandoes," Skipper asked him. Ricardo nodded. "You know what, I think I'll shorten your name to Rico!" Ricardo smiled. He liked his knew name apparently._

_The new team of four sat at the bush where they saw Rico from and started talking. Now they were a team. Officially. And forever more. _

**End of Flashback**

Skipper sighed. He thought his current team was going to stay together, and certainly that Rico would be here. Private looked up at him. He new that his captain wasn't feeling great. Afterall, Rico was one of his first and most loyal team meamber. Even for Private and Kowalski it was a tragedy. Getting used to that maniac proved tricky, but he ended up being a great loyal friend, although he could be slightly unsettling.

_Elsewhere..._

Rico was in a cell. Oh how he hated the tought of being locked behind millions of bars. He felt he had lost all freedom. Suddenly the lights went on revealing a single, well remembered enemy. "Hello there, frenemy," he greeted with an odd evelish smile. "I see you have woken up. I thought it would take you longer, but oh well..." The weapons expert, looked at him and growled. "Oh don't worry, you won't be here forever and you'll have company," Hans added," that I will asure you of. "Agent B, come here, I want you to gaurd this cell!"

"Why me, this soldier, is nothing but trouble!" B complained. He looked at the soldier in the cell. He knew who Rico was, but Rico didn't know him. It was for the better, but it didn't help B. Gaurding a person who is able to escape from just about anywhere, was hard work. Especially one that could escape from detention! Oh Agent B knew this soldier from somwhere already. Hans just smirked and walked off minding his own business. "Hi there, prisoner, i think you are one?" B greeted. Rico nodded, sighing, "Well that's a first."

"What?" Rico said, cunfused. The agent looked at him grinning. "The first time ever you were caught, anywhere!" he explained. "You even managed to eacape detention, even exploding with a bomb that was about to blow up!" Rico smiled and nodded. The he looked at the agent with confusion. "How?" he asked.

"Well that's simple, we attended the same club," B explained. "I am Brian Blowhole, but I prefer blowhole for some reason, I don't even know why..." Rico smirked , but then just nodded. Wait he knew that guy... that guy was his (gulps) friend! "Blowhole... Best but Blowhole?" Rico asked. Blowhole suddenly realised that. "Huh? Well guess you are right... but don't tell anyone, pleaaase," Blowhole pleaded. Rico shrugged and then nodded. "Fine." He replied with a grunt. Blowhole smiled. "I might be able to get you guys free, but not straight away, atleast I'll get my revenge on Hans, he's been pain of a general."

**Interesting chapter...isn't it? Seems like the game changed slightly! I can't believe that I wrote that Blowhole and Rico were friends, but it's out and it doesn't sound that bad. I hope you liked this chapter and I hope you will like the next one! Please Review,review, review, review, review, review, review aaand once again review! And have a merry christmas!**


	10. Rescuing Rico - Part One - Osf, Ob

**Chapter 10**

**Rescuing Rico - Part one**

**One Step Forward, One Back.**

Skipper sat on the sand watching the soldiers that were doing recon. It was fairly and not enough hours to be marching on but he wanted to be awake so he could 'listen' to his thoughts. It wasn't easy usually, since it was often very busy, but now was a rather silent day. A well known soldier and a great warrior disappeared faster than a lightning bolt and that is the thing that would make your spine tingle. If someone who is so good, suddenly disappeared, why wouldn't you be scared? Skipper was think of a strategy and sure enough he got one, but it wasn't the best startegy. Going to Denmark was an option best left till last, but it was an obvious hiding place. However, as much as it was obviously Hans' lair, it was _that_ obvious that Denmark was a set trap, a place that holds no exit for a prisoner. And even if Skipper got to Denmark, he would manage not walk further, all the soldiers knew that, but noone knew why he was banned from Denmark, but he was and he was banned a long time before Hans came to immense power, banning all the people who were neutral, or against him from Denmark, for the time of his rule. Skipper felt like going there anyway, but he would need his teams aid. Especially Marlenes help, would help. Her care, her kindness and respect would help Skipper, because he had a bad feeling about his plan, but there was no turning back, there was no other plan.

Kowalski had been looking at maps all morning, but all the analysis he gave to Skipper were brushed of, all the way of getting around were ignored with a remark. "The danes have sharp senses, like a cats', you wouldn't fool them, even if you spoke danish and could immitate a danish accent!" Skipper said looking at Kowalski. The scientist sighed. "You mean all the time I was trying to immitate the Danes was utterly useless?!" Kowalski said gobsmacked, he really did practise this. Skipper just sadly nodded and then chuckled at the scientific ironie. Private just hope his friend would be saved and Marlene did too. Kitka and Liliean mourned Ricos' disappearance, especially the cub did though. Manfredi and Johnson tried to reasure the group but with no avail, no success. If Rico was here he would have asked if they couldn't just use the good ole way of doing things, the explody way, but Rico was the one missing not the one left. Mourning wouldn't get Rico back and so the group headed off, leaving the rest to cope on their own.

But sooner or later or of them regreted it. It was getting dark and the whole place was infested with robotic pests riding in tanks and using lasers that could kill them with one blow. There was no going backl and so they had to continue marching all night, leaving Private so tired the next day, that he simply collapsed onto the sand. "Skipper I don't think this was a good idea," Kowalski complained. It was Skippers idea to just march up to Denmark, without weapons, food drink, and just stay elusive, but a hungry human couldn't stay elusive. "You know soldier, sometimes it's a better idea to make rash decisions, than to loose someone whom you thought of as a friend and live with regret," Skipper retorted, ignoring every complaint. Marlene looked at him with tired eyes. Skipper rolled his eyes and sighed. "Fine then, we will rest, but no longer than an hour!" he said. Private was about to complain about the shortness, but then realised that his leader didn't want him to do so and so he just dosed of to a dreamless sleep. Apart from KItka who had been sleeping last night on Skippers' shoulder, though he didn't notice, everyone followed Privates example. Kitka just flew over their heads in a circle, watching over them all like a gaurdian angel.

The seven sleeping soldiers were awoken by Kitkas' sound, that sounded almost like an alarm clock. Marlene smiled at her falcon friend and started stretching. Skipper yawned and then repeated Marlenes' action. The rest moaned, but soon the loss of their friend woke them up too, making the stretch quickly before setting off again.

They had continued like this for what seemed like days and as they got nearer to Rico, Skipper trusted Kitka more and let his men and ladies sleep longer, but never as long as a normal adult should sleep for, just incase. They trudged through forests and grasslands and deserts, mountainsides and even rivers. It seemed that in the center of Hans' empire there was no soldiers, but often the group was proved wrong. Fortunately it had always been human soldiers, but that's not what happened to the soldiers that were still behind.

They had been bombed, they had been shot, they had been pireced and they had been striked. They were tortured and murdered and all this because Skipper left them for a couple of days. Tanks had attacked them and there had been endless amounts of air raids. Nevertheless they kept on fighting because they believe Skipper would come back, but that was all. It wasn't planned any further.

Skipper meanwhile also excpierienced times of loss and all of that happeneed too quickly to feel realistic...

**I hope you liked this chapter! I wonder who is going to be 'lost' since Skipper will experience times of loss...**

**Please Review, because it helps me write stories and chapters. **


	11. Rescuing Rico - Part Two - D and Ns

**Chapter 11**

**Rescuing Rico - Part two**

**Deaths and Nightmares**

Skipper looked behind him. Thirty massive robotic monsters were catching up with him. Their arms were like guns and their armour was tough. Thirty bullets tried to hit him. Thankfully all had missed. Yet there were still thirty robots to deal with, each one of them too strong for him to handle. Marlene came sprinting to his side, tripping up a robot. Unfortunately by doing so, she badly sprained her foot and had to limp for the rest of the way. She took some dynomite and gave Skipper some as well. The two threw their sticks of dynamite behind them, hitting two out of thirty robots. The hit robots suddenly exploded, tearing up the groung below them as tehy did so. "Well, that leaves another 28," Skipper said helping Marlene escape.

Private, Kowalski, Manfredi and Johnson meanwhile had some trouble destroying some tanks. They had no explosives any more and most of their guns were wrecked. "Private, do you have some stick, coal, rubber bands and matchsticks?" Kowalski asked all of a sudden. Private seemed confused. "Kowalski we don't have time for making gadgets!" Private complained. Kowalski glared at him. "I need to make a slingshot!" he said. Private was still confused. "The coal on fire should act as an explosive and this could help eliminate the tanks!" he added. Private nodded. Now he understood. "I have a rubber band, stick and matchsticks," he said. Manfredi looked at Kowalski. "I have a bag of coal," he said. Kowalski smiled as the two handed him the items. During the runing Kowalski somehow managed to make a basic slingshot. "And finished," he said smilling as he gave Johnson the sligshot. "Try and aim at the top part of the tank, to malfunction the controlling device and thus stopping the tank completely. It is also it's weak point," kowalski said. Johnson took the slingshot. "Okay," he said not fully understanding Kowalski.

He used the slingshot and hit one tank directly. Then another. Unfortunately, the third shot missed and so the four soldiers didn't have enough shots left to destroy the rest. Johnson shot a third tank and then successfully a fourth, but the fith dodged again and again. There were now three tanks left, but no shots left. Manfredi had a crazy idea. "Kowalski, you, Private and Johnson run on, i'll destroy the rest!" he said, showing no fear. The three other soldiers blankly stared at him. "But... but you can't... you're a part of a team Manfredi! For goodness sake!" Kowalski complained. Private and Johnson nodded in agreement. Manfredi pushed his fellow soldiers aside. "It will do us no good, if none of us survive, I might even make it for all you know," Manfredi tried to reasure them. "Go now, Skipper needs your help!" Manfredi pointed out. The three soldiers nodded and sadly smiled. "Well Manfredi... I guess this is it... I will see you at the other side of things," Johnson said, putting a hand on his brother's shoulder. "You are a true hero, brother," he added in a sulky voice.

The three soldiers ran on hoping that Skipper and Marlene were fine. They were very relieved as they realised that neither of them were dead. "Where is Manfredi?" Skipper asked, concerned. Johnson let a tear drop from his eyes. "He... he is trying to stop the tanks, he said that we should help you," Johnson replied. Skipper sighed and turned back to the robots. "Well nows are chance to prove to him that he didn't risk his life for nothing!" Skipper shouted. He charged at the robots in rage, grief blinding him. He bravely jumped on the robot, dodging his shots and lasers and jumped on the control pannel. He stuck a dagger in it, making it explode. Skipper jumped to the side, before the explosion reached him. Out of anger, the rest did the same, not feeling in danger. This reduced the number of robots to 22.

But how to deal with 22 robots. Most of the soldiers' energy and anger was now gone. The robots kept coming near the soldiers. Suddenly they heard a shout. "RU-U-U-UNNNN!" a familiar voice shouted. Manfredi. "Manfredi!" Johnson shouted with happiness. Manfredi nodded and quickly hugged him, before resuming his runing. The soldiers ran as fast as they could. Then suddenly a huge explosion happened. Dust, sand, wind and fire flew through the plains, damaging anything that couldn't escape. The team kept running on.

Then they saw light. "We made it!" Kowalski shouted out. "We're alive!" But Johnson wasn't as cheerful. There was something missing. Suddenly, all knew what was missing. Manfredi. "But... how come... " Skipper said," he ran away too!"

"Yes, but then I saw him turning around. There was a far more deadly robot, that hadn't been defeated yet. He wanted to make sure there will be no harm..." Johnson replied, crying. Marlene put one arm aroung his shoulders to comfort him. "Johnson, we are all sorry and we all know that your brother was a true hero, but all we can hope for is that he didn't die in pain, nothing else, sorry Johnson," Marlene said in barely a whisper. The team (minus one) looked back. A kitten scampered across the plain. Liliean was back, with a robots' arm in her mouth. "Don't say you..." Marlene said. Then she saw Kitka flying back with a part of a robot too. "So all that time you fought with us and we didn't even know you were missing!" she said. "Sorry for ignoring you two, but can you tell us were Manfredi is."

The eagle led the five soldiers to a dead body. It was undeniably Manfredi's. The seven looked at the dead body in grief. "Manfredi, you are a true hero," Skipper said.

"See you in hevean, bro," Johnson cried. Liliean rubbed her head against Manfredi as if to say 'I will miss you'.

The rest payed their respect and settled down to a nightmare filled sleep.

_Kitka's nightmare_

_Kitka was circling the streets. There were fires and fights. Dead bodies and dying men. Dead animals, plants and wrecks of houses and cars. Blood coloured the puddles red. _

_Several hideous monsters crept out from the shadows, each one to scary to describe, with their twisted faces and blood red eyes and much more hideousness than that. She saw a falcon being pulled down to the ground by one of those creatures. The poor creature had both of it's wings bloodied and beyond repair. She heard a sickening crunch as the creatures smashed the back bone of the poor falcon with their teeth. The mortally wounded falcon gave one screech before giving up and dying._

_She headed to find her owner. She saw her and Skipper trying to fight of an armed human. The human pierced through Skipper with his dagger, sending him to the ground. Skipper groaned in pain and tried to stand up. Then he fell back down again, breathing in and out once and then closing his eyes, forever. "Nooo!" Marlene cried in pain. Kitka swooped down to help Marlene. Suddenly she heard and explosion. She continued to stoop, finally getting at the beast. She quickly pecked out it's eyes, but it was now use. Once the explosion cleared, she could see Marlenes dead body, baved in blood. She cried out in pain. This was too much to bear. Then she saw something else._

_She saw Liliean. She swooped down to see if she was alright. "Liliean, open your eyes," she said as she saw that Liliean had her eyes closed. She did as she was told. But instead of eyes, she only had empty sockets. Kitka wanted to scream. "What happened to me?" Liliean asked shyly. Kitka couldn't lie. Even though sh ewanted to. "You... have no eyes anymore," Kitka told the truth. Liliean yowled. "What!? First Rico and now... this?!" she cried in disbelief._

_Suddenly one of those monsters swooped down at Liliean, grabbing her into the air and then letting her drop. The fragile kitten's bones broke as it hit the ground, killing her instantly. Kitka knew she would be next. She didn't care. She was too stunned to move. She shut her eyes awaiting the beasts claws..._

_End of nightmare..._

Kitka woke up to see that everything was fine. Or atleast almost everything. Manfredi was still dead and Rico was still missing.

_Skipper's Nightmare_

_The wind howled in the old city. Denmark stood still. No voice spoke, no owl hooted, not a dog barked. Skipper looked to his side to see a bundle of dead grass roll across the street. Wait... this isn't Texas ... then why? Suddenly a figure stepped out of the shadows. Skipper wanted to cal for his men, but none were beside him. "ooking for 'is," the figure said and showed him Kowalski's head, of course, without the rest of his body. The thing that shocked Skipper most was the figure's voice. Well, rather how it spoke. It grunted and Skipper knew of someone who spoke that way. No...it couldn't be! "Rico?!" Skipper asked weakly. Rico grinned evily. "Kaboom!" he shouted. This was the thing Skipper was afraid of. Rico had betrayed Skippper, Rico joined his enemies. "Why?" Skipper asked. "Was it for all the explosions, or for me being weak as a leader."_

_"Yah nevah ked, yah be mean, yah be evil!" Rico answered. Skipper shook his head. "yep... nah a kill yah!" Rico added. He took a chainsaw and switched it on. He closed up on Skipper, with an evil cackle. The saw started peircing through Skippers clothes and flesh..._

_End of Skipper's Nightmare_

Skipper woke up. He felt pain and sorrow as he looked in the direction of Denmark. _I'll save you Rico, that's a promise, _Skipper said, _even if I get killed soon afterwards._ And with that he fell asleep again.

**I hoped you enjoyed this chapter and that it's long enough to satisfy you, but not enough to bore you. Please review, I would appreciate your reviews, they do help me to update stories. Though I haven't updated this chapter for long... I know...**


	12. Rescuing Rico - Part 2 - Wolves ITW-Z

**Chapter 12**

**Rescuing Rico **

**Part Three**

**Wolves in the Warzone**

The group had been marching for hours. Without more soldiers on their team the chances were that they would die sooner than morning could come.

It did not make the situation any better when the group heard a howl coming from nearby. Fortunately for them it was only a small pack of wolves. The not-so-fortunate part was when Kowalski said that the wolves were probably going to die soon as they were too thin and certainly not in good condition. Marlene started sobbing. _Will this trully happen to them? Will we be facing the same fate? _she asked herself. Maybe coming here was not such a good idea. But she had to help.

Skipper hugged her. "Don't worry, I'll find a way to keep them alive. And if they stay alive, there will be a bigger chance that we will. I feel it," Skipper reassured her. She smiled weakly and then looked at Kitka.

"Kitka, could you please find a stream?" Marlene said. Now she understood it better. If the wolves get water it would mean water for them too and if they hekp them, maybe, just maybe, the wolves will be on their side. A pack of hungry and thirsty wolves could kill them, but a pack of befriended wolves could ally them.

The falcon nodded and then flew off. It took half an hour, but she returned with a wet beak. Good news. "Kowalski, Skipper, Private, Johnson, Liliean, Kitka found water!" Marlene shouted. They turned to look at her in awe. "Kitka lead us. Skipper do you think we have sleeping darts?"

"Yeah, I intended to use them on Rico if he ever went berserk, but I guess you can use them. May I ask why?" he replied. She smiled and whispered "Allies are better than enemies", then she walked off with Kitka in the lead. "Oh..." he just muttered and called his team.

The wolves were put to sleep, which did save their energy, but not the soldier's energy. Carrying them was hard even though the wolves were about as light as a wolf plushie.

Kowalski thought that putting such weak wolves to sleep could even kill them. However, when the wolves showed signs of some sort of movement, he changed his mind. Besides, he thought that maybe they could well be a more freer version of a dog if he managed to tame them. And that could lead them to Rico. He suddenly, felt ashamed. Selfish. He was here to help, not to ask for stuff in return.

Private smiled as he looked at the wolf he was carrying. It could end up be-friending him. Then he gulped as dark thoughts clouded his mind. Or it could die before it opened it's eyes again. Marlene smiled at him. "Don't worry, show it care and it will want to live longer, like with humans, you know?" she said. Private nodded. _No need to be worried, no need to be worried._

The rest of the men were also confused. Not so much as worried as Private had been, but confused by the fact that they didn't know the outcome. Or the proper purpose.

An hour later (because flight is faster than walking), they reached a stream. All for men, Marlene, Kitka and Liliean were so happy to find water. Kitka soon landed beside Lilean who was slowly lapping water from the stream. Marlene layed down her still sleeping wolf then filled up a container with water and then added some purifier. Skipper, Manfredi, Kowalski and Private, lay down the wolves they were carrying and started drinking. For a while the group calmed down and rested.

Then however, the wolves woke up. Five of them in total, three females and two males. At first they were confused, but then confusion turned into agression. Some of them, the strongest, started biting and scratching. Then something odd happened. The caracal kitten slowly walked up to the wolves, tail low, her cute eyes holding a scared expression. She stopped and looked at them. On eof the wolves, a female, started licking the kitten behind her ears. The kitten started to get a little less tense. Then the female suddenly started following her to the stream. The rest of the pack folloed and started drinking the water from the stream.

Then the kitten lead the same female over to the soldiers. She looked at them and back at the wolf, meowing softly. The female wolf moved closer to Marlene. Marlene kneeled down and looked into the wolves eyes. The wolves seemed to be scared. "Don't worry," she whispered. "We won't do anything to you. We just want to be your friends." Private joined in too, reassuring another female, who held the same expression.

Then Skipper and Kowalski came up with something. "Why don't we feed them with the rest of out food, we can hunt, they can't, not in their condition," Skipper said with a chuckle. "You and Private stay here along with Liliean, me, Kitka, Kowalski and Johnson will find food." Marlene nodded. As much as she wanted to be with Skipper, Skipper's words were reasonable to some extent. Besides, Private, Liliean and the wolves were good company.

So that is what happened. Marlene and Private started trying to befriend the wolves, by feeding them and if they gave permission, stroking them, whilst Skipper and his group set off to hunt.

In a desert land you wouldn't find much food, or wolves, but as much as the wolves seemed strange in that way, the fact that they survived here, meant that there was some food. In the end, it was mainly Kitka who foudn some food. Five desert rodents, two small fish and some item that was on the sand. Johnson found some plant that was edible, not very tasty, but it kept a person going. Skipper found some young birds, but he was reluctant at killing them, so they flew off. After that Johnson started calling him 'Softie' and 'Hippie' which extremely bugged him. Kowalski just chuckled and continued minding his own bussiness. Though not even he knew what his bussiness was.

They returned, two hours later, which made Marlene want to scold Skipper for worrying her so much, but that would not be a good idea.

The wolves were now lying by a newly lit fire, by the side of each one of the soldiers. They did end up being friendly, sometimes to the extent where they let the soldiers stroke them.

Private decided to call his wolf friend Ashly, because her fur was bright red and her belly was a very pale yellow colour. Also because she had her temperament to include. She was one of the wolves that scratched the soldiers. Kowalski estimated that the wolf was a bit like a young adult, or even just teenager. She had energy, cheekiness and could get angry. But above all,she favourited Private.

The female wolf that favourited Marlene was now by her side. Marlene decided to call her Silver, because of her fur that was tinged with greys and silvers. The name Silver had also sounded like a wise name, and Silver was calm and slightly wiser looking than the rest of the wolves. Silver and the other wolves all seemed to be still quite young.

Then there was Bolt. The black, grey and white wolf had be-friended Skipper, after a lot of play fights and some ham. He was brave and courageous, so it kind of made sense that he prefered to be near Skipper than the rest. He did seem to find the bird incident amusing though, since Skipper could have sworn that the young male smiled when the five soldiers talked about it. For that Skipper glared at him for ten seconds until he decided to solve it by pushing the wolf to the side. The wolf somehow managed to return it to him, so Skipper started to repect him.

Kowalski was favoured by an intelligent, cheeky little female that he soon name Daisy. The name was simple but sounded quite fitting for a wolf. Daisy was a gold and sandy coloured female with blue eyes. She somehow managed to get to his stash of cookies that he had kept and even managed to open the tightly shut container. This was intelligent. She also once stole a notebook that he carried. But she returned it to him quite soon. At a price. A page was torn and the cover had some wolf saliva on it.

Johnson was left to be with one that was rather secretive. Black fur, redish-brown eyes and a menancing smile. When he was put to sleep he looked inocent, but that was only a cover. He liked stealing and he didn't exactly favourite Johnson. He did get on with him better than with Skipper, Private or Kowalski, but he prefered to wander around Silver and Marlene. Marlene had her own wolf in care now though, so the responsibility was up to Johnson. Luckily, soon Johnson's wolf started to get a little more friendly, sometimes even brining him a dead rat. Johnson started to call him Demon Killer, but the rest called him Shadow. Both names were fitting.

Now all the soldiers needed was to find Rico.

**I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, sorry for the delay. I just wanted to add in something that would cheer people up, and wolves sounded like a type of animal that would fit. And, I know, wolves do not exactly live is deserts, but some might get lost there, besides what else could be loyal enough to be-friend our soldiers. I am planning to get the wolves to help with finding Rico, but I don't think it would make much sense putting all that in one chapter. Please review and to be continued...**


	13. Rescuing Rico - Part Four - CTAF

**Chapter Thirteen**

**Rescuing Rico**

**Part Four**

**Close to a friend**

Skipper looked at Marlene as they sat in the grassy field watching stars twinkle in the moonlit sky. Not even two weeks after the appearance of the wolves did they managed to get to Denmark. On a lighter note, Kowalski had told Skipper the day before that they should be somewhere near or in Europe by now, as the grass gave it away.

Marlene smiled at him lovingly and then continued watching stars. As much as she wanted to see Rico safe and sound, she felt happy near Skipper, happy and safe. She saw that Skipper was sad. And she knew that it was because he missed Rico most. He was like a brother to Skipper, even if Rico could sometimes be a little rude or cheeky. Besides, it was bad enought to know that one of your teammates would never come back.

"Skipper, what are you thinking about?" Marlene asked softly. He looked at her.

"Oh nothing," he replied," I am just wondering when I'll see Rico again."

Marlene hugged him. "Don't worry, you'll see him soon. From what I know, he must be a bit of a thorn in Hans' backside. After all, he always manages to put on quite a fight, especially if he is fighting for freedom."

Skipper smiled and nodded. "Yes, I remember once having to hold him down, so that he wouldn't run away. I wanted to surprise Private at that time, by putting on the Lunacorns show for once, but Rico, hating Lunacorns more than anyone else, wanted to put on Texas Chainsaw. I had to fight him for the remote, which sort of made Private cry. He told me that I should not have fought Rico for a programme. From that day forward we agreed on a scheduel. Private got to watch Lunacorns for one hour a day and Rico watched something else for another hour."

Marlene giggled. "And what about the rest of the day?" she asked.

"Training."

He kissed Marlene lightly on the cheek. "Marlene?"

"Huh?"

"Would you... you know... when this is all over... go on a date with me?" Skipper asked, blushing scarlet red. She blushed as well.

"Of course I would, Skipper, you know I would," Marlene answered, smiling. Right now she felt like the luckiest girl alive. Well almost anyway. Marlene sighed and looked at the sky. Silver and Lilean curled up beside Marlene and Kitka decided to perch on her shoulder.

Meanwhile, Skipper decided to go back to Bolt, who was now slightly worried about Skipper. And he also seemed to know about the 'dove' love that was going on between Marlene and Skipper. "Hey Bolt," Skipper greeted him, stroking him behind his ears. "How was your day?" The wolf panted to show exhuastion and curled up beside Skipper, who soon fell asleep.

Daisy and Ashly were playing happily near Kowalski, who studdied their behaviour, that was of course until he began to fall to sleep. Private was also near the two playful female wolves, stroking them, whenever they came to look at him again. In the end, even Private did not last too long and dozed off. The two female wolves soon decided to return to the humans they prefered most and started sleeping as well.

Shadow however, was not as peaceful, he managed to stay awake even once most of the humans and animals had gone to sleep. He listened carefully to his surroundings, aware of every movement, of every star in the sky. Johnson laughed at the paranoid wolf. "Seriously, are you going to stay up all night?" he asked chuckling. Shadow did not move a muscle. "Come on, get some sleep, you daft wolf," Johnson continued. "Besides I am meant to be on guard, not you." The wolf shook his head. He walked up to Johnson and dropped a strange metal thing.

Johnson gasped. "But that's a part of one of those robots, how... how could the..." Shadow looked around, ears pricked. "Are you suggesting that we should be more careful?" Johnson asked. The wolf nodded. "Alright," said Johnson whilst yawning. "You can help me out."

Ironically it ended up being Johnson who fell asleep, thus being the one 'helping out'. The coal black wolf smiled as he put a blanket over the sleeping soldier. _If all humans are this amusing,it might be worthwhile staying with them, _Shadow thought. _Let's just hope that Hans will never win this. _

Oh, maybe I should mention something. All the animals now knew who Hans was. A human who wanted to rule over everything. Well, when I say all, I mean all the animals in the group. And Shadow seemed to understand this more than any other wolf in the group.

He managed to stay standing all night, until a falcon flew over him the next morning, wings outstretched... then he dozed of to a deep sleep, surrounded by dreams and nightmares. Many of which felt so realistic... it all felt like complete madness, even for such a mad wolf.

And one dream seemed to show someone... his next human friend... in lots of pain.

_With Rico..._

Rico felt angry, sad and depressed at once. Most of it came from the lack of room and the fact that he was barely strong enough to be awake. What was even more depressing was the number of iron bars that stood in a line, making the dark prison in which he stood in, inescapable. Thirteen, polished, iron bars, signified torcher, mocking torture.

No one likes bars, and for Rico it was torture. It reminded him of a rather bad experience.

_(flashback)_

_Ricardo Blue was standing infront of a cell. It had metal bars that not only made him sound like a criminal, but made Juvenile sound like the worst place ever. _

_All he had done was a street fight. And for who? Easy. For his family's dignity. And now, even though his family tried to get him out of this situation, he would have to spend two months in this stinking, crazy place, having to watch fight after fight, after fight. Besides the food here was utterly digusting._

_He shouldn't have done that. But which sixteen year-old wouldn't do so. He could not just idly stand and do nothing, whilst people were offending his whole family and his near-blind sister. _

_His sister was just twelve and he felt really close to her, ever since she was born. Her eyes could have been operated but his family did not have enough money to do so. _

_Anyways, now here he was. Suddenly a massive teenager came up to him and hit him in the face. He felt sudden rage that drove him into returning the punch. He aimed his fist and shot it out, almost braking the other teenager's nose. The head of the Juvenile department was not pleased with this. He gave Rico a punishment excercise of writing a thousand times 'I am sorry Bob' and thirty push ups for a good measure._

_However, all this just kept infuriating Rico, and it didn't help that all the teenagers that were around, made fun off Rico for his clothes and fought with him. Especially Bob liked fighting him. But somehow, Bob never got blamed. _

_One month later, Bob had gone, to live the normal life that anyone else did, but Rico still had to stay stuck. The day after Bob had left, an even worse kid came. His name was Riley, but everyone called him Hurtfist. Out of respect. _

_One day, Rico accidently called Hurtfist by his real name, and recieved a punch from him. The others joined him and tried to take Rico's belongings. After that, he had his lunch stolen daily, even though he never liked lunch every day and got nicknamed 'Freako', because of his temeperament. _

_Even the head had called him Freako and seemed to always give him the worst tasks, like cleaning out the toilets._

_(End of Flashback)_

Rico sighed. And this time, he hated them even more. This time his enemies were not mere teenagers. This time they were adults with weapons capable of destruction. As his first torturer came, he glared at him. Rico just hoped his friends would come. He could withstand this torture much longer.

But he had to or else the whole world would be lost...

**I hope you found this chapter interesting. In know it took so long to write this chapter, but I had so much to think about and I also couoldn't write at one point, because I was on holiday in Kos and I worried that if I took my laptop with me, it could brake or get stolen. **

**Thanks for reading this chapter and please review. **

**...To be continued...**


	14. We Are Here

**World War Three**

**Chapter Sixteen**

**We Are Here**

**Sorry for updating so late...**

Finally... they were there. Denmark. One could say that there was no place more suspicious than this country filled with spies, agents and strange new weapons that seemed to work in an alien fashion. After all, who would think that there would be such a thing as a hard drive shaped like a classic Danish tuna Sandwich. It seemed as though the Danes were obsessed with food.

Skipper breathed in the city air, remembering the wars and battles he had won here. Denmark seemed as if it was built for it and villains seemed to take advantage of this place for their nasty schemes.

His group stepped into the country, looking around. The place looked rather deserted but that may have been because it was lunchtime. Something about their European habits made Skipper angry. Like the politics in this place.

Kowalski on the other hand found this place interesting, but merely suspicious. There should have been some buildings here, were now a few blocks stood unevenly on top of each other. It made Kowalski feel somewhat nervous about coming to this place. His wolf sniffed the ground for a moment and then let out a quite growl. She smelt something strange about this place.

Jhonson kept on his feet, he looked around, searching for signs of life, but there seemed to be none apart from a couple of sheep grazing on the fields round about. He felt relieved. For a moment he had too thought that this place had been raided.

Lillieane and Marlene searched the outskirts of the city. They saw nothing except buildings. And that was the strange part. There was no sign of life, human or animal, just flats, shops and houses. Marlene heard Silver's snarl and ran over to the wolf. She pulled out something, a robot of some sort. It was in pieces, broken down, oil leaking from the robot, but it was still part of a robot. Marlene froze. The robots were here and considering this was Denmark, Hans would be here too.

"Skipper, the robots... they're here!" Marlene warned Skipper a little too late.

A robot attack Skipper out of nowhere. Skipper managed to dodge the attack and the kicked the robot to the side. "I know that Marlene!" Skipper called back.

Marlene would have told him that he probably would not know that without her reminding him, but just as she opened her mouth, she heard someone. There was someone behind her.

"Oh hello there, soldiers!" it greeted them.

Marlene turned around to see a man with black hair, pale skin and dressed in a uniform smirking at her. And as she looked at Skipper, who seemed to be rather annoyed, she realised who this person was.

"Hans!" Skipper shouted. He ran up to him and tried to punch him, but Hans grabbed Skipper's fist and pushed it back with enough strength to make Skipper fall to the ground.

"I see you brought a lady friend with you, Skippah!" Hans mocked him. "What was her name again. Ah now I remember, you must be Marlene!" he added, looking to Marlene.

"So you think that a couple of wolves, barely any men, a falcon and a cat would stop me? Tut tut tut tut tut, Skippah, I thought you less naive than you are apparently," he continued to mock the group. He then leaped to the side as Kowalski and Jhonson tried to take him down. Instead they ended up attacking each other.

"Tell me what you did with Rico!" Skipper shouted at Hans, even though he was only a metre from him. Hans laughed.

"You really think that I will?" Hans asked. "Do you think that -"

Suddenly Rico charged out of nowhere. "Get him!" Hans commanded his robots. "How unexpected, he seriously thought he'd get out," Hans then said.

Private, Marlene and Kowalski were relieved to know Rico was all right, but Skipper and Jhonson were not quite so. This unexpected escape somehow made battling Hans harder, because now Hans would be more prepared. Still, none of the humans, or the animals thought that Rico could escape.

"Well and here I thought that Rico was no match for a mad, villainous worm like you, Hans!" Skipper decided to mock Hans. _Perhaps it'll make him drop his guard, _Skipper thought. That would give them a chance to strike. Hans growled, which meant that Skipper had infuriated him, but whether her had made him drop his guard, he seriously doubted that.

Skipper looked at Bolt, his companion and wolf and the wolf immediately knew what Skipper's silent command was. The wolf leaped up, surprising Hans and then landed on him, scratching and biting him.

"Get that mutt off me!" Hans shouted. Bolt, being offended by the title given to him by his enemy, bit the humans' neck.

"Sorry, no can't do!" Skipper retorted whilst he took on some robots. He slashed them right in their cables, making them loose control and as Skipper leaped away from them, they exploded.

"Okay Skippah, if that how you vant it then ya'll get it right now!" Hans shouted, commanding his army. A squad of army helicopters flew directly above Skipper and shot a bomb over his head. However, Bolt saw the bomb and got Skipper out of harm's way.

"Thanks bud," he thanked the wolf. "So that's how it's gonna be then," he muttered. He looked around to see some weapons.

Eureka! A bazooka lay in front of him, probable a part of one of the robots. He picked it up and shot at helicopters. He managed to get one down, before he realised he was out of ammo. Hans smirked at this and decided to meanwhile attack Private, who was busy fending of a group of robots along side his wolf. However, eh was out of luck yet again, because Kitka managed to warn Private just in time. _Darn it!_

He decided that he'd fight him without the element of surprise, since it was unlikely going to happen. He took out a pistol and aimed it at Private. Private ducked down before Hans managed to shoot him, but he still got his head scratched by the bullet.

"Hey, Hans, stop picking on others, fight properly, like a man!" Skipper suddenly shouted at him, surprising him. He aimed a fish at Hans.

Hans laughed, so much that he had a hard time standing up straight. "Oh Skippah, you should have joined the circus!" he mocked him.

"Really?" Skipper asked slicing through the air with the salmon in his hand. He put so much power and speed into the attack that the dorsal fin of the fish managed to cut Hans. Hans gaped at him, before yowling out in pain.

"Ouchie!"

"Thought you might say that!" Skipper said. "And that's why my favourite meat is fish."

Hans took out a salmon too. "Just like the old times!"

Everyone stopped fighting, even the robots.

"You two know each other?!" everyone asked. The silence that followed was so silent you would hear a feather drop. Suddenly another man came into the scene. "And to think that I didn't bring popcorn."

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Hans suddenly asked the human.

"Now Hans, give me one good reason why I should miss out watching such a dramatic event," the human just said.

"You were meant to guard the prisoner!" Hans added.

"Nope, not a good enough reason," the human retorted, smirking.

"Would the fact that we ae under attack change your mind?" Hans asked, getting irritated. Blowhole was getting on his nerves.

"Er nope?" the human asked back. "Besides, I have my own plans and frankly, you don't appear in them."

The others just started blankly at the two as they tried to take in what just happened. Skipper was the first one to snap out of his state.

"Is this an agent of yours, Hans?!" Skipper asked, closing up on him.

"Was!" he spat. "Filthy traitor."

Another voice echoed.

"Where do you know each other from," Marlene asked. Both Skipper and Hans glared at her. She shrugged. "I was just asking."

"Long story Marlene!" Skipper said in an irritated voice. "A very annoying one too. Besides we're on a mission here to save the world not to tell others what we were in the past."

Skipper then punched Hans. Furious, Hans punched back, getting them into another fight. Since the people watching the got bored they quickly returned to the task of destroying the robots.

However, the luck the soldiers on the good side had had gone. Suddenly a massive robot charged at Marlene. He would squish her for sure. Skipper tried to save her, but he was too far away. He could only watch as Marlene was hit by the metallic monster, squished into a bloody pulp.

"No!" Skipper cried out. Before the word came out of his mouth, he heard bones snap. He heard a scream and then there was nothing.

Skipper collapsed. He was about to cry, when he heard the cry of someone else. A cry of a female. Marlene's cry.

For a second he felt relieved, but the dread came over him.

"Marlene, you're alive," he murmured, watching her come up to him, sulking.

"Yes, but..." she pointed to Jhonson's mangled corpse. It made Skipper sick to see his old friend, torn, squished and bloodied, lying in a puddle of his own blood. He rushed up to his friend.

Suddenly, he heard breathing. It was shallow, slow and ragged, but Jhonson was breathing nevertheless. "Don't die," Skipper pleaded, but he knew it was impossible.

"I...I... have to I ... had to... save your love..." Jhonsons tried to speak. "I hope... you will end this war... the one that killed... my brother... and at least I'll...I'll... rejoin him," he said those last word in barely a whisper before letting out one last breath. Skipper looked at Jhonson's now really dead body and then at Hans.

He would kill that worm, if it were the last thing he'd do.

"I'll get you for that Hans!" he shouted. But nor Hans, nor his army were there any more. Just lots of his injured allies, lying on the ground, feeling pain and sorrow.

* * *

Rico stood in his prison, grunting and groaning. _Oh man! I could have escaped. I could have been free. I could have helped Skipper, _he thought.

He heard footsteps. It was Hans.

He'd kill Hans, if he could only get his hands on him.

"Hello there, my mad friend," he greeted with a sly smile. "I guess you have no heard of the latest news then. You're petty friend just got killed by my robots!"

Rico grunted and shouted at Hans, desperately trying to punch him, but as soon as he stuck on fist out, he got an electric shock.

"I see you got to know my friend, the laser!" Hans teased Rico.

"Some friend you have," he grunted.

"I would hold your tongue my friend. It might save a great deal of lives!" Hans retorted, smirking. "Because once I capture all your friends, those that are alive of course, I will have the chance to decide whether they die or live."

With that the man walked away, leaving Rico to think about his threat. He knew that if he were to speak badly of Hans or do anything to him, he could kill his friends on the spot. But even if he had let them live, he would still torture them, of that Rico was sure of.

People like Hans had no mercy. They did not ask questions or answer them. They did not obey nature's laws or human laws. They were like evil machines. Programmed to kill and destroy let greed take it's course until the was nothing left in the world to take.

And Hans was evil. He was what symbolized evil.

Rico sighed. _Why do innocent have to suffer for who they are, but evil gets their every wish granted?! Why is this world so unfair?!_ As a soldier, he had learned this the hard way. Not when he was a soldier, but when he was far younger. And he still was haunted by this.

_**...To Be Continued...**_

**I sure do hope you found this chapter worth the wait, for it did take me an incredible amount of time to get on with this chapter. I can only say that I had a writers block and I still am unsure whether it's disappeared, because find it very hard to finish chapters, even to come up with new stories. **

**But bear with me, please. You don't have to review though if you don't wish to seeing as you might be disappointed and if you wish to tell me what I have do wrong, you can. Though I can say with certainty that at least one will point out my spelling mistakes. **

**I will also try and continue with the rest of my stories, but I'll wait for your responses if any, to see if I should, because I could ruin the story if I tried to update it but write a whole lot of nonsense which would put off people from reading the rest. **


	15. Freed For a Reason

**World War Three **

**Chapter 17**

**Freed for a Reason**

Rico groaned as he woke up that morning, feeling a pain surge through his body. Remembering the tasers from the night before, he looked around wearily to check if Hans was still around. Normally, Rico would have just escaped and then destroyed whoever had done this to him, but Hans was different from other villains. He may not have been the smartest, but he had some pretty dirty tricks and loved to cheat. Rico was sure that Hans would never let him out that easily.

So he looked up to look for security cameras. Frankly, he found only one, which had obviously been destroyed as its lenses were cracked.

"You're awake," a voice suddenly spoke, making Rico flinch. He knew that voice.

He turned around to see Blowhole standing by the cell door. He was smiling, although in a slightly suspicious manner and his arms were crossed.

"What are you doing?!" Rico hissed at Blowhole. He felt something wasn't right.

"Freeing you of course," Blowhole replied in a nonchalant manner. "Wouldn't normally, but Hans is getting on my nerves and you look like someone who could actually become my key to get revenge on Hans, for never listening to my ideas, for pretending to be the leader too long."

Rico raised an eyebrow. "You doing it for you'self, huh?" he questioned.

Blowhole shrugged. "Yes, but at least you'll be reunited with your friends. Take it, or leave it," Blowhole answered, with a slight smirk. Rico knew that Blowhole wasn't exactly a good guy, but right now, he knew that Blowhole's help was the only help he could get. He had to take it.

"Fine..." he muttered. Blowhole nodded and took out a laser. Using it one the cell door, he sliced it in half, making it fall apart. This allowed Rico to get out.

As soon as he was out, both humans had to run for it. He could already hear the robotic voices of Hans' drones echo through the corridors and their footsteps as they stomped about. 'We must've triggered an alarm,' Rico thought, before turning left at a point, heading for the light at the exit.

However, as he did so, he realized that they were trapped. A bunch of robots came from the right, another from the left and then a couple of automatically piloted tanks drove up from the exit.

"You take the ones on the left, I'll take the ones on the right?" Blowhole asked hesitantly as he used his lazer to destroy a couple of the robots.

Rico nodded and launched at the robots on the left, managing to scrat their operating system with a good old kick. However, as more came up, it became visible to him that they might not make it out of that place. What he did not see was the Blowhole was already far ahead of him... he knew what he was doing.

Taking out a few small grenades from the pockets of the white laboratory coat that he was wearing, he threw them at the tanks, making the explode. "Duck!" he warned Rico, who listened almost immediately, ducking down, before the flying debris from the tanks could hit him. In any other occasion, Rico would have loved to see his enemy's tanks explode, but being so uncomfortably close to them, he took that feeling back.

After the explosiong had stopped and the smoke from it had cleared, Rico stood, up to check if Blowhole was okay. With a slight assurance from the nod that Blowhole gave him, he continued outside.

"I knew this would be easy, Hans may be smart, but I'm smarter," Blowhole boasted. "That overconfident jerk cannot stand a chance against my inventions."

Rico shrugged. "Thanks," he muttered.

"Meh... you can go if you want to, I have my plans." With that Blowhole walked off, disappearing back into the base. "And don't think you can get rid of me for very long."

Rico looked at him with a baffled expression. Why would Blowhole go back there? After he had just exploded Hans' tanks? It sounded crazier than anything Rico himself would do. And why did he say that Rico would not be able to get rid of him? Was that a threat? Had Blowhole decided to dispose of Hans just to be their top enemy instead? Talk about some creepy parting words.

He decided to ignore the paranoia in his mind, heading out to find his friend. Unfortunately, Hans had changed his lair's location, so it would take him some time to find the others.

* * *

Skipper had been mourning for their second loss now for several hours and was still shaken by the wave of hopelessness as he remembered how close Rico had been to escaping, before he got caught again. It was not his job to be weakened by grief though. His father would have never let him to be weak in front of his comrades.

_"Remember, you may mourn for your team mates, it shows you're human. But you must be strong for those that still live, you have to put their needs in front of your grief," Skipper's father said. "Every leader's job is the same. Protect and care for your team mates, because a comrade is like family."_

It had seemed so strange to Skipper when he had only been ten at that time, but now, he felt as though every word that his father had told him on that day were true.

Reluctantly he turned back to were Jhonson had lain, deciding to find where Hans was. He had to find that wicked fiend. As he looked to the horizon, he saw a tall figure approach him. The person had black hair, blue eyes and a scar on one side of his face. 'Is that...' Skipper wondered, before running up to the man. The other person also started running, seeming excited.

"Rico!" Skipper called out.

"Skipper!" Rico greeted back, waving his arms about. Skipper couldn't have felt more relieved about Rico's sudden appearance.

The others must have heard Skipper for they soon came up too, the sadness leaving their faces. Not even the wolves were doubtful of Rico's presence and soon came up to him. And most importantly, Lillianne, who had missed him probably most of all, was sprinting up to him, before rubbing against his legs. She let out a small purr of satisfaction before glancing at Rico. The soldier looked back at her, seeming glad to be back.

"How did you get out of there?" Kowalski asked his comrade, feeling a little guilty about asking Rico this off all the questions he could have asked.

"Someone betrayed Hans helped," he simply replied. "Are we destroying Hans or what?"

"Are you okay? Did they hurt you?" Marlene started asking, making the other glance at her. Rico shook his head.

"Not much," he answered. "Few tasers, felt worse."

He really could not care less about the past and Skipper knew it. "Come on then, let's get set up and back into action," he ordered. Marlene seemed confused, but otherwise they all obeyed.

Skipper decided to check Rico for wounds first though and then handed him a bazooka. Rico quickly took a liking to the weapon and as soon as everyone else was set, they walked off. This time they would get rid of Hans once and for all.

And as they saw Hans and his robots arriving again, both Skipper and Rico knew this was the time for their revenge. The robots tried to battle them off, but with Rico in their team, they had very little chance of succeeding. When Rico was angry - and since he heard the news of the death of Manfredi and Jhonson he was angry - Rico could literally turn into a weapon of destruction. With Rico, you could never know when he would go berserk, which was something Hans did not know about, but was about to find out.

"What in zhe name of Denmark is zhat?!" Hans cried out, staring at Rico who managed to destroy most of his army, with only the use of brute force. Hans quickly leapt off the robot he'd been riding, before it managed to explode after being hit by a bazooka.

Rico growled at Hans, leaping at him and pinning him to the ground. He was just about to punch him, when Hans rolled over, slipping away from his grasp and hitting him in the shoulder.

Meanwhile the rest of the gang were fighting of a few of the tanks from earlier.

Rico yelped in pain before knocking off Hans. Just as he did so, he realized that a robot was standing right behind him, ready to attack him. Rico quickly dodged the attack, leaping into the air. Landing onto the robot's back, he quickly climbed up to the wiring system, scratting it.

As he jumped back off, he realized Hans was nowhere to be seen. He quickly ran away from the robot before it exploded.

"You zhink you can get rid of me zhat eazily?" a voice asked him, making him jump.

He turned around, to see Hans drop unconscious. From behind him, appeared a massive robot and inside it sat the very person that had saved him before. Blowhole.

"You really thought I would let you go?" Blowhole asked, a smirk forming on his face. He then shook his head. "Well I don't think so."

Rico took a step back. The rest of the group stopped fighting, realizing that Hans had been stopped. They turned around to see Blowhole stand there. Blowhole let out a chuckle before looking down at all of them from inside his robot. "Thought I might as well carry on from where he left. I my own way."

Confusion rose from between the soldiers. What did he mean by that.

"You see, I didn't free your friend over there for no reason," Blowhole continued, pointing at Rico. "I freed him to get rid of Hans. So that I would rule over the world. Not him, just me. I could never live in the shadows of that primitive-minded maniac. I have my own dreams and one of them is: taking over the world. Without Hans."

Everyone gasped.

Suddenly his robot was lowered down to the level of the five soldiers, picking them all up, with on large arm. They tried to squirm out, but then suddenly a shock passed through all of them, making them go unconscious. Blowhole cackled madly. _Finally! _He would get what he always wanted.

**I know this chapter is rather short, but if I had made it any longer it would ruin what I had planned. Also, if you're wondering why I titled it 'chapter 17' when in fact there are only 15 chapters, it is because I lost some chapters that were meant to be there and would have added up to 17, but someone had to delete all the stories on the older computer. Yeah, I know, I've been ranting about that for the past several chapters but I can't stop myself. Also, BrendanBoman, sorry for not updating for long, but I may or may not have gotten too obsessed with other things and I didn't realize I still had plenty of stories to finish. **


	16. Animanizer

**World War Three**

**Chapter 18 (Well, technically, chapter 16)**

**Animanizer**

Skipper was the first to wake up, with a very painful headache and anger burning through him. He would get that fishy fiend it it were the last thing he would do. No one took over his world. No one. This world was as much his as it was anyone's and Blowhole was not allowed to just barge in and try to conquer it. Skipper would not allow it. After all, they already lost too much.

"That fiend!" he grumbled as he slowly stood up. Suddenly he felt something hard collide with his head and looked up to see an iron ceiling. He looked around to find that he was stuck in an iron cage, along with his team mates.

Marlene was just a metre from him, looking bruised and beaten. Feeling guilt, he looked away. He had wanted to protect his team. Most of all Marlene. He could not let her get hurt. Ironically, that was what had just happened. He had failed.

Rico woke up second and as soon as he did he went loco. Crashing into every bar that held this cage together, he screamed and cursed his head off. He said something half-comprehendable, something along the lines of 'Let me get my hands on that little - urgh!' Then, ten minutes later, he gave up and began figuring out how to get out. Skipper meanwhile stood on look out.

Some ten more minutes later, the rest had waken up. A sound came from the corner of the room that their cage was placed in. "I see everyone is a wake. Time for my plan to proceed," a voice said. Blwohole. The man appeared from the shadows, on a segway. In that lab coat he looked strange on a segway. The smirk on his face was just plain weird. He did not strike as a particularly intimidating nemesis. Yet, he had managed to catch them all. And now, he was planning to take over the world.

"Cut us the chit-chat and move on to the important part!" Kowalski snapped, earning a scowl from Blowhole. Obviously, Kowalski had insulted him.

"You won't be so willing to insult me once I show you what I have in stock," Blowhole retorted, before taking out a remote from one of his coat pockets. Kowalski stared dumbfounded at the item now present in the scientist's lab, before laughing.

"Hah! Is that _all_ you have? A remote?! What you gonna do with that? Put on an incredibly boring channel that will bore us to death? Or is that a wireless detonator that will detonate a nuclear weapon? I expected something more genious from someone wearing the outfit of a scientist," Kowalski continued. Private quickly walked up to him and put a hand over his mouth. At this rate, they would get killed.

"Oh, that isn't the weapon," Blowhole simply exclaimed. Then he pressed a button on the remote. The sound of an electronically-controlled door opening, came from behind him. Something drove up through the doorway, stopping just in front of the caged soldiers. "This is."

The soldiers' mouths hanged open. A massive machine, with lasers, targeting systems and other gadgets stood before them. At the centre of the machine was a large glass bulb that judging by the purple electronic impulses from within it was the energy storage. It looked like it could explode if there was ever an overload. And it would not be pretty if it did. Several levers and binoculars connected to the machine, to an area of it with just one seat. It looked something like from a movie, rather than reality. It looked deadly.

"You like?" Blowhole asked. Kowalski managed a slow nod, whilst Skipper immediately shook his head. Blowhole smiled. "Don't worry, it won't kill you."

Private sighed in relief.

"However, it will take you all out of the picture," he finished. Private gulped at the threat behind the man's words. "For good."

At once, this triggered a response from Skipper. "I won't let you get away with it, you fiend!" he shouted.

"Oh, but you already have."

Then he got off his segway and walked up to the machine, sitting down at its seat. Aiming a laser directly at the cage, he then played around with some of the buttons. "This should do," he muttered to himself. Then he looked at the soldiers. "Say your last goodbyes, because after this, you will never see each other ever again."

The soldiers stared at each other, before Skipper ran up to Marlene. He hugged her tightly. As he was about to release her from his grip, she hugged him back, kissing him on his cheek. The others weren't as calm about parting and were panicking, run around the cage like headless chickens.

Blowhole continued to press down a lever, making a humming sound come from the machine. He then angled a strangely shaped gun at the humans. A ray of blue light erupted from it, blinding the humans. In a matter of seconds, they were knocked out. Pressing the last lever, the ray was activated, hitting the now unconscious humans with another, this time purple, ray of light.

However, before he could see the effects of the ray, something leaped on him, pushing him onto the ground. He rose, to see a group of four wolves growling at him. Letting out a barely audible yelp, he ran out, but not before another wolf, that appeared out of nowhere, managed to turn the purple laser on him.

Blowhole dropped to the ground, falling unconscious.

Unfortunately, the wolves were then attacked and chased away by an army of robots. They quickly fled, before a beeping sound started to come from the machine. Red lights flashed in the room, doors started closing on their own, robots started dropping to the ground. A power cut. Something had gone wrong. The energy in the machine had overloaded and any second now it would explode.

"Machine will self destruct," the robotic voice of the machine sounded. "In 5."

"4..."

"3..."

"2..."

"1!"

A ground breaking explosion came from the machine, destroying all the walls, cages and doors of the building. The whole building started collapsing.

* * *

Consciousness came slowly to Skipper. Every now and the he would slowly slip out and back in of existence. Pain seared through his body, immobilizing him. He did not know how long this had continued for, or where he was currently. He did not know what he was doing here, nor anything about himself. Everything in his mind seemed to have been erased. All he knew was pain.

At his eleventh attempt to stay awake, he slowly opened his eyes, seeing nothing but white. Blinking, he soon realized that he had been laying on his back the whole time.

'Must be the... ceiling... then,' he thought, realizing that he was not just stuck in a blank area. He tried to sit up, but his pain would not allow him to do so much as move his eyes, much less the rest of his body. He could not even look to the right, or the left, just straight forward. Otherwise, the pain would come back and he would fall unconscious from the sheer amount of it.

All he could do was think.

Around him there were voices. So he assumed that meant people. Maybe doctors. After all, due to his memory loss, this was the only place he could actually remember maybe dealed with anything related to his problems. He was in pain. He must have had wounds. Or he had a concussion. Either way, this was clearly a hospital.

"He looked pretty battered to me. I wonder how he managed to get to Denmark. Ah, Doctor Caracal, have you taken the blood tests yet?" a voice said.

"No blood poisoning, or infection to the wounds of any sort. However, when I tested the DNA, I found something strange," the other voice, a female voice answered. She was obviously Doctor Caracal. Skipper felt like groaning, but when he tried, no sound came out.

'So, what's not right with my DNA this time?' he felt like asking.

"What is it?" the first doctor questioned. The sound of a pencil tapping against a clip-board came.

"He isn't anything like the other species of penguin," the reply came. Wait... did she just say -

'-Penguin!' Skipper cried out. How?! How was that possible?! He may not have remembered his past... but he was pretty sure he was never a penguin before. Especially an unknown species.

"Well, it seems fitting, after all, he does not have the markings of a known penguin," the first voice came. So they had been vets, not doctors. Not quite. Skipper, deciding that he had enough weird information for the day, gave in and closed his eyes. A far less painful sleep awaited him.

* * *

Marlene felt a head-ache as she tried to sit up. As dizziness began to overcome her, she dropped back down on her back. She had been awake for some time now, but still knew nothing about where she was. The only thing, apart from language and how to walk, talk, drink, etc, that she knew was that something was missing. Something important was missing, but she couldn't point a finger at it. Not that she was quite able to walk, talk or do anything yet. She had needles pircked into her skin. She was unable to move. She was in pain. She felt lonely.

"Doctor Lupus, the animal is conscious now," a voice exclaimed.

"Good, that is a good sign," a female voice answered. "She still looks badly injured, but there are barely any broken bones. She will be fine in a week at most."

So... she was an animal? Strange, she felt like something wasn't quite right. Still, she did not argue with it, not that she could - she knew nothing about herself, or her past and she did not have anything to prove those people wrong. She assumed they were vets because they were doctors and she was an animal and it was the vets that took care of animals, not normal doctors.

She felt an itch on her, back, but because of her immobility she couldn't reach out and scratch it. 'I really hope I stop being unable to move, this is annoying!' she thought. She tried to breath in and out slowly to calm down, but as she did so, she felt a burning sensation in her throat and lungs. All she could do was take shallow breaths and those definitely didn't help. Slowly, drowsiness was beginning to overcome her.

"She might need to sleep, I think her lungs and throat may have some bacteria in them from the event, so she will need medicine and sleep," Doctor Lupus continued.

'That would explain it,' Marlene mused.

Suddenly she felt another needle prick her arm.

"This should do," the doctor said, before Marlene heard footsteps. She assumed that the woman was now leaving, perhaps to treat another animal?

As the drug from the needle took its effect, sleep began to come quicker and her eyes slowly closed. In minutes, she was asleep, in a land of dreams.

* * *

_"Lunacorns!" Private cried out happily as he jumped about the lush green hills, chasing the colourful ponies around. He was as content as he could be, no wonder when everything here looked so beautiful. He was in the place he had always wanted to visit. _

_He was surrounded by not only unicorns with magic, but also butterflies, bumblebees and ducklings. Flowers grew in between blades of grass, in many different colours. A vivid rainbow arc was above him, stretching from one oak tree to another. On the oak trees, songbirds tweeted and twittered their joyous little tunes. Everything here reminded him off heaven. Even the couple of white, fluffy clouds in the sky made him feel in heaven. The sun was bright and gold, yet it did not blind him - even when he looked straight into it. _

_"Yay! A new friend!" a voice called out. Private turned to see a purple-pink unicorn with a neatly-styled mane and blue eyes call at him. It was obviously a mare and a happy one at that, judging by her cheerful smile. _

_"Wow! It's really you! Princess Self-Respectra," Private squealed. _

_The lunacorn princess nodded her head, but then, suddenly, as though she had just realized something, she became serious. "Um... Private, do you know what this place is?" she asked. _

_"Heaven? Lunacornland?" he thought. _

_"Yes... but... you aren't ready," she continued. She then looked at the sky. "You aren't ready to come here yet. You need to finish what you started."_

_"Huh?" _

_"You are far too young. We will all wait here. You can talk to us in your dreams. However, you are not ready for after life - not when you still have a life to finish," she explained. "You've suffered loss and you will suffer pain. You won't remember what you have lost, but that only makes returning to your life so much more important."_

_Private nodded, accepting this. "So, this is goodbye?" he asked, slightly disappointed. He felt sad that he would have to leave this place. It was so perfect. _

_"Until the next time you dream of this place, then yes," the lunacorn said. "I will give you hints on how to live your life, throughout, but it will be your choice to follow. And if you live it well, if you do what is best for not just yourself but others, then we will meet here and you can be a part of this place."_

_Private smiled. Of course. He would do his best. "Good bye, Princess Self-Respectra," he said. _

_Suddenly he got pulled away from the world..._

He slowly opened his eyes, adjusting to the brighter light in the room. All was white, except the yellow light from the light bulb above his head.

Around him, people were walking, probably doctors. They were talking about all sorts of things, like his blood, his species and how badly injured he was. Strangely, he did not - he could not - remember how he came to his injuries. All he knew was that in the cruel reality, he was in far more pain than he was in the dream-scape in his mind. He wished he could go back to sleep, but somehow sleep could not come to him.

Everything from the bottom of his feet ot the tip of his head, pained him. He felt so tired yet his eyes would not shut. He wanted to cry out in pain, but tears would not come and he discovered that he must have lost his voice, for now sound came from him when he tried to make one.

He was also not sure why they had called him 'some type of penguin'. He felt that somehow that was wrong. He like penguins, they were meant to be cute and cuddly, but somehow it just did not seem to fit. Somehow he doubted that he was one.

Finally, when a vet by the name of Doctor Lupus gave him an injection, his eyes finally closed. This time however, he had no dreams. He saw nothing.

* * *

Unfortunately, heaven did not await Rico. And if it were heaven, then it was all rather crude. After all, he was pretty sure that if he were in heaven he would not be unable to move. Nor was he in hell. It wasn't hot enough and it did not look nowhere near to hell.

His surroundings were white and the sounds of humans talking were apparent. The beeping of machines echoed through his mind as he thought about what they were speaking about.

Apparently he was a penguin. He doubted it. Yet, even if he was, all he really wanted to do is get out of here. He was bored, in pain and annoyed. He need to be outside. He felt there was something that he needed to find. However, as he tried to sit up, the pain in his abdomen forced him to lay back down. It felt like a building had crushed him. His stomach was so sore it felt like it would explode.

He tried to get the people to help him up, to let him go, but as soon as he called for them, he realized that his beak let out no noise whatsoever. It was depressing, really.

A doctor, a male one, by the name of Lupus, came up to him, looking at him and then said something about a neccessary surgery that Rico would have to undertake. Apparently he had something in his abdonem that could possibly affect the organs inside him so it had to be removed as soon as possible.

Then, he was given a needle full of some sedatives and the doctor walked away.

After that, Rico was on his own, left to think about what had actually happened, even though he knew of nothing that could help him. Heck, he did not even know what he was. He didn't know how he got here. Much less what had happened in his past.

'Need. To. Get. Out,' he thought, trying to sit up yet again. However, tiredness took it's toll and he had to lay back down.

* * *

Kowalski wasn't sure why he was here. He wasn't sure about anything. He was sure he should have known - he was sure that he was someone who should know - but he didn't. All he knew was his name and that he knew things, but what things? That, he could not remember.

He had woken up feeling pain and he had fallen unconscious several time over. He had been examined and diagnosed in his sleep by a group of vets and as he woke up, he realized that he was, in fact, a penguin. It was a very unlikely diagnosis, he was pretty sure it was false, but when he realized that it could well have been true, he thought no more of it.

He also felt he need to be somewhere. That someone was waiting for him. And as soon as he saw the vet come in, a woman by the second name Lupus, something stuck a chord. He was sure that it reminded him of something. Yet he knew not what.

"He had broken flippers, injured head, suffered a concussion and barely alive, despite the fact that he isn't that badly injured. Mostly in shock. He may also have memory loss, but as he is a penguin, I am unsure of how to test that," the doctor had stated.

Memory loss? Amnesia, perhaps?

"Apparently, this little guy and the rest found there are to be taken to Sea World. Coney Island. Not the best place, but with so little chance that all six of them will survive the transportation stage, I think they'll be lucky to make it there," another vet said. Coney Island? Why did that place sound like a bad one. And why six animals? What were the other five?

"Yes, but with what the others are doing, I am sure that most of them will be fine. Strangely, its a wonder that they survived three months in a coma and then regained consciousness. There are three more penguins, all male. It's actually strange that they were in Denmark. What would they be doing in there? Copenhagen more precisely. And then there's an otter... wait, that one's going to California, not Coney Island. There is also a dolphin and oh, a puffin, both of which are going to Sea World," the first vet continued.

'I-I was in a coma?!' Kowalski panicked, his heart rate rising. 'For three months?!'

"Well, you suffered from amnesia too, except you woke up three months earlier and now you work here because of your knowledge. Sure, you weren't out for three months, but you have a strange past too. I guess wonders do happen," the other doctor said. "Then again, so were the other five."

He heard their voices lower as they exited the room. Soon, he fell asleep yet again.

* * *

Dr. Blowhole was in pain and annoyed. He didn't know why he was in water, or why he could never stay awake for more than half and hour, but he definitely knew something was wrong with this.

"It's a wonder he actually stayed alive," the vets had said.

He couldn't be bothered less about that. All he wanted was to die. The pain was so unbearable. He could only barely move and when he did he fell asleep only a few seconds afterwards from the shock, pain and exhaustion. Somehow, no matter how long he slept, he always longed for more.

Oh and another thing the vets had said. He was a dolphin.

'Now that would be a good reason as to why I'm stuck in this small pool,' he thought for himself. Which meant that he would not be able to ask the humans to move him to a bigger pool.

* * *

Hans could remember when the last time he had been in hospital was. He could not even remember the last time he had awakened. It came to him as strange that he retained his memory of how to form words, yet when he tried to speak his voice faltered. It really sucked when he tried to stand up, but he couldn't. Whatever happened to him, must have been the equivalent of a building falling on top of him. Sure, his bones were still mostly there, except for the fact that they were broken, but it hurt like hell.

'Damn whoever did zhis to me!' he cursed mentally, before looking at his surroundings. Everything looked so big and white and completely disproportional to his own size.

He came to realize that he was a puffin, as a vet had said so when he came to check on Hans. He hated the thought of anyone being close enough to be able to inflict damage - he didn't know why - but he could not do anything about it. He was stuck.

Apparently he was to go to a zoo somewhere on Coney Island. It did not sound like a very nice place. Maybe it was just the name.

Having no choice but to go by what the humans said, he gave up and lay back down, closing his eyes. A dream, no a nightmare, tore through his mind, so lively and so detailed it almost seemed like the painful reality. Like a memory. However, he doubted it was his. It was a human's memory. Not his. He was sure of it.

_Guns firing out of nowhere. Screams, cries, the calls of the wounded, the dying, the grieving. A bloodshed battlefield, under a danger-coloured sky. A soldier, tall, thin with major injuries to his leg limped up to another, a shorter soldier, who desperately tried to help him. _

_However, before he could, he heard the sound of a bomb exploding and before the smaller soldier could react, he saw his comrade being blown up to smithereenes. The scene was so shocking that the soldier could not bare looking at it and quickly took cover. _

_In shock from what had happened one thought raced through the soldier's mind. 'I must unite zhis vorld. A var to end all vars. One zhat vill forever bring piece. I can't stand and vait.'_

**A/N - I know this may not quite make sense, but I tried to make sure this part would tie in to the rest. I think I'll just write one more chapter after this. I'm sorry if this will disappoint you and I am sorry if you hate me for posting so late. **


	17. A New Life

**World War Three **

**Chapter 19 (Well technically, chapter 17)**

**A New Life**

Skipper woke up again, this time not feeling as much pain. It was still too painful for him to move too much, but he could at least turn his head slightly. Enough to see that there were three other penguins with him. Enough to see that he was locked up in a cage somewhere dark.

He heard the thundering of some sort of machine, or vehicle, but he wasn't sure what it was or if he were in that vehicle or not. Wherever he was, he felt slightly dizzy and definitely confused. Barely recognising the silhouttes of his new cage-mates, he panicked. He wasn't even sure whether he was safe near them. What if they were enemies? Or a threat. After all, he must have had an enemy before, despite being unable to remember it, so he had to keep on guard at all times.

"Where... am I?" he thought aloud.

"I-I think we are inside a truck, or van of some sort, heading to a destination which could be Coney Island, or whatever the place's name was," another voice exclaimed. Skipper turned around to see that it had been a penguin taller than himself speaking. He looked smart, although Skipper wasn't sure if he could trust this fellow avian's intelligence. After all, the most dangerous enemies were those that were smart.

The penguin, looked down at the cage floor and then back at Skipper. "Sorry if I surprised you. The name is Kowalski," he quickly introduced himself. "And I'm not sure who I really am, or what I am doing here."

"Well, the name's Skipper and you ain't gonna get any other information from me," Skipper snapped.

"Let me guess, you forgot your past too?" Kowalski estimated. Skipper sighed and nodded. It was pointless trying to argue with the tall penguin - he just felt it.

"Where are we?" a tired voice asked, apparently from a smaller penguin, that had just awoken. The penguin let out a yawn and then looked around.

"Need 'oo get out!" a croaky voice cried out. It came from a penguin just slightly shorter than Kowalski, with a feathered mohawk on his head. He looked slightly crazy and his twitching eyes indicated that he was mad. To Skipper, it seemed that the penguin just really hated cages. He did too... except he did not react quite as crazily to them. Hmm... he actually already started to like this guy.

"I'm sure we'll be freed from here soon," the smaller penguin piped, smiling weakly. The other penguins envied the little guy's optimism - even though they knew there was nothing true about that. The penguin was lying to himself, this won't take a few minutes, more like a few hours. "My name's Private," he then added with an equal measure of friendliness and optimism.

"Name's Rico," the penguin with the mohawk grunted. Suddenly, he made a chocking sound. Private panicked, looking at the penguin in concern. After a few fake gags, he finally hacked up whatever had been in his stomach. Which in this case had been a paperclip.

"Eww..." Skipper protested as he looked at it. Then his expression changed to something that resembled amazement. "Now that's got to be handy, soldier."

Rico looked at him, raising a non-existent eyebrow. "Eh-what?" he grunted.

"Mind if I take that?" Kowalski asked. When Rico gestured to the paper-clip, Kowalski took it as a yes and picked the clip up. For some strange reason, it was completely clean and had no trace of saliva or vomit. That came across to him as very unusual - he would have to test Rico's ability later. Stepping to the lock of the cage, he shaped the clip into a more useful shape and placed it inside the hole, before turning the clip, making the lock make a clicking sound. It was unlocked. Opening the cage door, he proceeded to hop out of the cage.

Rico followed him. After that Private came too. Skipper, who was still in pain, made at least an attempt to stand up. Slowly rising to his feet, he clumsily walked outside the cage, before collapsing.

After some time and a lot of ragged breaths, he sat up and glanced at the other penguins. "I... I think that's enough for today team," he finished, before falling asleep.

* * *

He woke up after around ten hours (or so Kowalski had said) and came to realise that they were at their destination. Paranoia still ate at him, mostly because he feared what might be awaiting them at Coney Island. After all, it did not seem like the nicest place ever. And who knew if it was even an island?

Suddenly the door of the van started opening and the penguins quickly waddled back to their cage, so that no one would know they managed to escape. Instinctively, they knew that this could ruin their future. It was like something was telling them what they should do. For Skipper, it felt strange and he was under the suspicion that this was tied to the past that he could so strangely remember nothing of.

"They are awake, should make this easier," a man wearing a red baseball cap, jeans and a shirt stated plainly as he looked into the van. Skipper heard Kowalski sigh in relief. They suspected nothing.

The light finally go to them. It was natural, pure sunlight and after so long, none of the penguins knew what sunlight was like - especially since they literally forgot it. They all opened their beaks in awe and then proceeded to examine the surroundings.

As the man carried their cage, they realized most of this park was concreted and had a typical, grey-blue hue. It did not look very exciting, unless you counted the dolphin pool that was at the back of the park. It was the biggest exhibit and even had a concrete island in the middle. In the pool, a female dolphin, who was called the name 'Doris' by a member of the park, swam, looking somewhat sad.

Skipper noticed that Kowalski was immediately smitten by the female - even just looking at her made his comrade's eyes widen and his beak hang open. Luckily, this expression soon left him as they were placed in their own exhibit.

It wasn't very big and had barely any water in it. Also, it had the same boring gates, fences and signs as every other enclosure. However, they had no choice but to stay there. Forcefully, the man shook them out of the cage they were in. The penguins landed on the concrete ground. Looking around, they realised that this would now be their life. Unless they decided to do something about it.

"Well soldiers, I hope you've all started planning," he began. "'Cause I ain't stayin' in this hole for longer than necessary. And this place definitely needs some equipment."

* * *

Blowhole groaned in frustration as he was rudely awakened. From his container, he was dumped into a pool of water, deeper by only a few metres from his previous pool. At the sound of water splashing under his body, he opened his eyes and swam back to the surface, looking around.

Far in the distance, he saw a sign saying 'Coney Island Sea World'. He cringed, feeling a shiver go down his spine. Something told him that this place wasn't a good place to be in.

In his pool, there was another dolphin, who looked strangely familiar. Maybe it was those large eyes, long eye lashes and the spot on her left cheek, but she reminded him of someone. But who? Blowhole shook his head. Then something passed through his mind.

_"Francis, Doris, Dinner's ready!" a cheerful voice called at him. Blohole sighed and then looked to the girl at his side, who was playing with her doll set. Her lightly tanned face was lit up with excitement as she carefully put down the dolls. On her left cheek, she had a small, black spot, that seemed to make her look all the more grown up. Her eyes however, violet-blue in colour and large and round, made her still appear like a child. As did her long black eye lashes. _

_Blowhole heard himself laugh as he got up. "Last one in the kitchen is a rotten sea slug!" he called out, before running out the room. _

_"Don't worry Francis, you'll be the only one to be a sea slug," the girl retorted, with a smirk. And then she ran off to catch up with her brother. _

Blowhole blinked and then looked around. However, as he did so, he heard some peculiar voices.

"Well soldiers, I hope you've all started planning," a voice said. Blowhole froze. There was something eerily familiar about that voice. It sounded like the voice of a captain, a commanding officer. It was so familiar, it made Blowhole's eyes widen.

"Hey, you all right?" a gentle voice asked him. Blowhole turned to see the female dolphin looking at him, seeming pretty concerned. "You seemed to have blanked out for a second."

"Yes, I'm just adjusting to my new life," Blowhole muttered. 'And planning on how to get out of this place,' he added silently. The dolphin nodded and smiled.

"Well, my name is Doris by the way," she said. Another shiver went down Blowhole's spine, like that time he had heard that other voice. He knew this dolphin. But how, when and why did that memory seem completely out of this life, why did it seem as though it did not quite fit?

* * *

Hans was dumped onto a bare, concrete pillar, that was surrounded by a large bird cage. He wanted to fly off, but for some reason he just could not.

"Well, that's the last of 'em," a man muttered, before walking away. Hans scowled and stood up to his feet, before surveying his exhibit. It looked boring, dull and uninteresting to say the least. At his side lay a metal bowl with fish in it, but for some reason, he did not feel like eating them. This place was... weird.

"I hate zis place already!" he grumbled, sighing.

A voice made him freeze. "Well soldiers, I hope you've all started planning," the voice spoke, sounding like a commander's voice.

There was something familiar about this voice, but Hans did not know what. There was something about this voice that sounded almost threatening. Hans decided to ignore it and concentrate on his previous plan: how to get out of this place. After all, it was a dump. It looked like a dump, felt like a dump, smelled like a dump and the name sounded like a dump... so technically it could have just been called a dump. He did not want to be stuck here. He wanted to be free. For some reason, he felt that he shouldn't even be in a park.

* * *

Marlene woke up to the chatter of seagulls. "Hey, that must be the new one!" one squawked excitedly. Marlene opened her eyes slowly and looked at the seagulls. They looked friendly enough but their voices were quite annoying.

"Ugh... where am I?" she groaned, stretching her limbs.

"Darlin' you're in the California Marine park," another sea gull answered, slightly more quiet than the previous one, for which Marlen was glad. "And you definitely ain't the only otter here," the sea gull continued, gesturing to the other otters in the exhibit she was in.

It was quite a large enclosure, but even then there were a lot of otters. She could see about a dozen odd otters, male and female, each looking unique, with unique attitudes to the newcomer.

"She's awake guys!" one said. It was a small male otter with wide, brown eyes.

"Well, I got to get a camera for this one," an excited female otter, with a pink nose and a black spot on her forehead said.

"Epic, another girl... finally!" another female otter, a younger one than the last, squealed. She had vibrant green eyes and a slim figure.

"You wanna date?" a strongly built male otter with brownish-amber eyes and a smug grin on his face asked, glancing at Marlene.

"What's your name, hun?" an elderly male otter with one grey, one brown eyes questioned. He had a polite, gentle voice, but he definitely sounded keen to meet her.

"She looks friendly," a black otter exclaimed. He looked elusive, but he seemed to attempt to be polite. Marline smiled at him.

"Don't mind me, I'm just standin' here starin' at... nothin'," a shy, young male otter with mostly greyish-brown fur and a black tip on his tail murmured, before slowly walking away. Marlene felt like laughing, but then she realized how hard it must have been for him to socialize, being in such a large crowd, but so shy.

"Meh, Imma goin' to my den... and if anyone eats mah fish-," a rough looking male's voice was cut off. His fur was slightly messy on his forehead, making him look as though he had a hairstyle and he had part of his left ear bitten off.

"Yeah, well no one's gonna wonna even touch those fish... otters know how long that's been out in the sun, rottin', for," a elderly female otter retorted. She had a kind smile on her face at the time, making it sound like a playful joke and her yellow eyes were sparkling with joy. Marlene, smiled too.

"Umm... hi?" she greeted back, with a small wave of her hand. She felt so happy here. Then a thought passed through her head. 'They all seem so nice... but... why did I hesitate then? Why didn't I just say 'hi' right away?' She mused about it for a while, before returning to the present.

Once evening came, she was already friends with a majority of the otters. She was content here - far more so then how she felt at the vet's . Everything here was exciting and wonderful and there were so many colours and otters. Everything seemed cheerful. But she had a funny feeling that outside this enclosure, outside this park, there was something other than fun and games. There was danger. Something from her past could very well be out there... and it could be dangerous. It could be deadly.

Yet, while she was here, she decided not to think of that. Right now she was here. Whatever, her last life had been about, this was now. This was her new life.

* * *

Kitka glided over the battlefield, looking for her master and family. There was no one. Nothing. It was just a ruin now. It had been like this for three months now and no one had realised anything. No one remembered anything. Nor did she. All she knew was that she had to find her 'master'. That someone out there was waiting for her, evening if they did not know they were, even if none of the two would recognise each other.

She was now the only one of the family she felt she must have had. She knew something was missing, but nowhere in this vast waste land could she find anyone.

Denmark was slowly changing back to the city it once had been, yet no one seemed to know why it had become such a ruin in the first place. Like if someone had used a bottle of amnesia spray and sprayed it over the whole world, making everyone forget the reason behind this devastation, this destruction. Like if time had frozen for a while and someone used it to destroy this place and then unfroze the time again, so that everyone could see the destruction left behind, but never know who did this.

In the distance, the peregrine falcon saw the silhouettes of sky scrapes, a future that would come to this area of Denmark just as it had done so there. A cement and iron metropolis, dominating this land and it would come here too. Kitka knew this and she knew how to make use of it. Yet she wanted to get out of here... to explore the world and take risks.

She flew off, into the golden sunset, the sun making her wings appear a lighter shade of orange, almost gold. No matter what her past was, the present was now. She did what she though she had to, she did what she wanted to. And she wanted to travel this world, finding what she lost and finding adventure.

This would be her new life.

One chapter ended, another had started. For everyone.

* * *

**Phew... I think this might be it. I think this should be the final chapter. Or maybe, it's just the end of one chapter, the start of another. Either way, please review and any suggestions are welcome. And by the way, I think I might have started the prologue of the second instalment to Grace. Though I think I won't post until I have more than one chapter. And I should really rename that story. Or maybe, you guys could think of another title instead of 'Grace'. The series won't be just about Grace... if the other stories come out. **

**Also, thanks to those who did not give up on this story and always returned when I updated. **


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